mm 




SCENES 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 



SCENES 



FROM THE 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 



Bi JOHN BOBEBTSQN. 



hbltsbeb h ibt Ihntau ^cbool Stasoriatum. 



L N D N : 

EDWARD T. WHITFIELD, 178, STRAND. 

JOHNSON AND EAWSOX, MANCHESTER. 

MATTHEWS, BIRMINGHAM. 

1S62. 



^5% 



t>\j,cUs*v<Y<* 



, 



TO MBS, COUETAULD, 

OF GOSFIELD HALL. 



Dear Mrs. Courtauld, 

You once told me that some lectures which 
I delivered in the High Garrett Chapel helped to give 
you a nobler idea of St. Paul's place and work- in the 
Early Church. Your remarks, and the great interest 
taken by our village congregation in those lectures,. 
first suggested to me the idea of this book. Amid the 
pressure of many engagements, I have found a little 
time, now and then, to carry out the idea. The book 
is not all that I could wish ; yet I trust it is not 
altogether uu suited for the purpose it is designed to 
serve. You will differ from me on some of the ques- 
tions discussed in the following pages, I dare say; 
but with the spirit and aim of the book, I feel sure 
you will sympathize most heartily. With sincere 
respect, therefore, I dedicate it to you, as a slight 
token of esteem and gratitude for the sympathy and 
kindness you have uniformly shown towards me 
during the six years I have been associated with your- 
self and Mr. Courtauld in some of your many labours 
to promote the religious, moral, intellectual, and 
physical improvement of the working classes around 
you. 

JOHN ROBERTSON. 

Halstead, 15th July, 1862. 

a 2 



PREFACE. 



This book, it is hoped, will meet a want long felt by 
many of the teachers in our Sunday-schools. It is 
essentially a class-book for our elder scholars, and 
aims at giving such an account of the great Apostle of 
the Gentiles as will enable our young people to form 
some notion of the struggle amidst which the Christian 
religion was planted in the world. 

The writer kept steadily in view the fact that he was 
preparing a class-book to be read, not in one or tw r o 
sittings, but in short portions, spread over many 
weeks. This will account for some repetitions which 
might otherwise seem out of place. At the same time, 
feeling that such a book might prove acceptable to 
many of the younger members of our congregations, 
the writer has tried to throw in the repetitions he 
thought necessary in the way least calculated to make 
them tedious to the more continuous reader. 

The writer has to acknowledge his obligations to a 
great many works, and more especially to Milman's 
" History of Christianity ;" Conybeare and Howson's 
" Life and Epistles of St. Paul ;" Neander s " Planting 



viii PREFACE. 

of Christianity ;" the works of Professors Jowett and 
Stanley; Martineau's "Studies of Christianity;" the 
Rev. J. H. Thorn's " St. Paul's Epistles to the Co- 
rinthians: their Spirit and Significance ;" the series 
of books " On the State of Man before and after the 
Promulgation of Christianity ;" and some valuable 
essays in the " National Review/' In quoting from 
the New Testament the writer has not always used 
the authorized version, but availed himself of the 
translations of Mr. E. Taylor, Mr. Sharpe, and 
others. 

The purpose which the book was intended to serve 
made it necessary that several deeply-interesting ques- 
tions, arising out of the study of St. Paul's life, should 
be passed over in silence, or only slightly alluded to. 
The writer has followed, as closely as possible, the 
narrative of the Acts, and left to the critic and the 
scholar the settlement of much that would have carried 
him away from the purpose he had in view. It is 
hoped, however, that the book will prove suggestive, 
both to the teacher and his pupils; and by stimu- 
lating thought, lead to farther researches in the same 
field. 

It has been suggested to the writer, that it would be 
a good thing to continue, in a series of class-books, 
the history of Christianity down to the present time. 
The labour would be too great for one person to 



PREFACE. ix 

undertake, unless he could devote a very large portion 
of his time to it, and the want is partly supplied by a 
little book already in use in our Sunday-schools, en- 
titled, " Scenes from Christian History ;" but should 
the present book be favourably received by those for 
whom it has been prepared, the writer will follow it up 
by another, on the Keligious History of England — the 
materials for which he has in a large part already 
collected. 

It only remains further to say, that if the little map 
which has been placed at the beginning of this volume 
should not be found large enough when the book is 
used as a class-book, a very serviceable map may be 
purchased for four shillings from the Society for 
Promoting Christian Knowledge. 



CONTENTS, 



Chap. 








Page 


I. 


Introductory — The Providence of God in History 1 


II. 


The New Religion 15 


III. 


The Martyrdom of Stephen . 






25 


IY. 


Saul of Tarsus * 






39 


V. 


Going to Damascus- 






51 


VI. 


The Convert and the Fugitive 






§5r 


VII. 


Fifteen Days with Peter 






79 


VIII. 


The Mission of the New Religion 






93 


IX. 


The Gall to Antioch . 






105 


X. 


The Mission to the Gentiles 






115 


XL 


The Preacher .... 






131 


XII. 


A Council of Faith 






141 


XIII. 


The Second Missionary Journey 






161 


XIV. 


"Come Over and Help Us" 






175 


XV. 


Thessalonica and Berea 






. 189 


XVI. 


Athens 






203 


XVII. 


Corinth .... 






. 219 


XVIII. 


Ephesus .... 






. 235 


XIX. 


The Collection for the Poor 






. 251 


XX. 


The Path of Duty 






. 265 


XXL 


Jerusalem .... 






. 281 


XXII. 


Before Governors and Kings 






. 295 


XXIII. 


The Shipwreck 






. 311 


XXIV. 


Rome 






. 327 


XXV. 


The Epistles of St. Paul 






. 343 


XXVI. 


Conclusion .... 






. 359 



CHAPTER I. 



ENTEODUCTOBY-THE PEOYIDENCE OF GOD 
IN HISTOET. 



" Darkness o'er the world was brooding, 
Sadder than Egyptian gloom ; 
Souls by myriads lay in slumber, 
Deep as of the sealed tomb. 

Earth had lost the links which bound it 

To the throne of light above ; 
Yet an eye was watching o'er it, 

And that eye was full of love. 

Like a glorious beam of morning, 

Straight a ray pierced through the cloud, 

Spirits mightily awakening 

From their dark and heavy shroud. 

Still that ray shines on and brightens, 

Chasing mist and gloom away ; 
Happy they on whom it gathers, 

With its full and perfect day." 

G-ASKELL. 












-A t, B _ 



^ ^ D T 



1 £ H 



PARTS OF 

EUROPE & ASJA-, 

TO ILLUSTRATE. 



SCENES 



FROM THE 



LIFE OF ST. PAUL, 



CHAPTER L 



INTRODUCTORY. — THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD IN 
HISTORY. 

There is no book so widely circulated, and so 
frequently read as the New Testament; but to read 
it as it should be read by those who seek to profit by 
it, requires, at least, some mental preparation. The 
book gives an account of the origin and early pro- 
mulgation of Christianity in the world — shows us how 
fierce the struggle was through which our religion had 
to pass before it gained a footing in the world. But, 
born in a Christian land, and educated among Christian 
institutions, it is a difficult thing for us to go back in 
thought and realize the time when Christianity was 
itself a heresy, battling against popular superstitions, 
and in danger of being crushed by Jewish and Pagan 
persecution. We propose, in the following pages, 
to exhibit some of the more prominent scenes 

B 



2 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

in the life of one of the greatest missionaries of early 
Christianity, and to illustrate them by information 
gathered from the writings of men who have devoted 
much time to the study of this subject. We do this 
in the hope that it may excite in the minds of some 
of our readers the desire to know more about the 
origin and early diffusion of our religion, and thus 
make their reading of the New Testament at once 
more interesting and instructive. 

Our interest in St. Paul lies, mainly, in his labours 
and sufferings as the Missionary of the Cross. It may 
be well, therefore, as a preparation for the study of 
his life, to take a brief review of the more important 
facts connected with the introduction of Christianity 
into the world. 

The moral revolution brought about by the new 
religion was very striking indeed, but it is one ex- 
tremely difficult to realize, unless we have some notion 
of the moral and religious condition of the world 
before the coming of Christ. The subject is so vast 
that, within the limits of an introductory chapter, it 
seems hardly worth while to approach it. Nevertheless, 
if we can give our young readers even a faint idea 
of the three great parties with whom the Apostle 
had to mingle in his frequent missionary journeys, 
something will be gained; those who want to pursue 
the subject further will find more ample details in 
Messrs. Conybeare and Howson's "Life and Epistles 
of St. Paul/' DeanMilman s " History of Christianity,'' 
and, more particularly, in a very interesting series of 
books, published by Parker and Son, " On the State 
of Man before and after the Promulgation of Chris* 



INTRODUCTORY. 3 

tianity." From these sources, mainly, our epitome is 
drawn. 

Of Judaism, as a system of religious belief arid 
worship, it is not necessary to say much. Leaving 
out of view its claim to be a special revelation of divine 
truth, we would observe that it was the most remarkable 
system of religion that had ever been given to any 
people. As expounded by Psalmists and Prophets, it 
seems often to anticipate the sublimest teachings of 
Christ himself. In Greece and Rome, too, there were 
great men, who, like solitary watch-towers, rose above 
the surrounding darkness ; philosophers who could 
talk sublimely of the One true God who filled all 
things, of loving virtue for its own sake, and of a life 
after death. Still, this superiority must be claimed 
for the Jewish Psalmists and Prophets — they never 
taught that their system of religious thought was for 
the privileged few. The poorest peasant of Galilee or 
Judsea had the same part in it as the wisest Rabbi of 
Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Judaism was wedded to a 
system of religious forms which fostered national pride, 
and rendered it unfit ever to become other than a local 
religion. Moreover, after the return from the Captivity 
in Babylon, Judaism degenerated very rapidly. The 
Persian doctrines regarding evil and evil spirits 
did much to destroy its primitive simplicity, while 
the rise of the Pharisees, who were a numerous 
sect nearly 150 years before the birth of Christ- 
exalted the traditions of the elders above the Law and 
the Prophets, and so developed the ceremonial part of 
Judaism, that all spirituality was crushed out of it by 
a weary load of soul- destroying forms. The Canon of 

b 2 



4 SCENES FROM THE LIEE OE ST. PAUL. 

Scripture was now closed, and God had ceased to be 
an ever-present help in time of trouble. " The Old 
Hebrew seers/' says the Rev. Charles Kingsley, 
" were men dealing with the loftiest and deepest laws : 
the Eabbis were shallow pedants. The Old Hebrew 
seers were righteous and virtuous men : the Eabbis 
became, in due time, some of the worst and wickedest 

men who ever trod this earth And yet, 

among these hapless pedants there lingered nobler 
thoughts and hopes. They could not read the glorious 
heir-looms of their race without finding in them records 
of antique greatness and virtue, of old deliverances 
worked for their forefathers, and what seemed pro- 
mises, too, that that greatness should return. The 
notion that these promises were conditional, that they 
expressed eternal moral laws, and declared the conse- 
quences of obeying those laws, they had lost long ago. 
By looking on themselves as exclusively and arbitrarily 
favoured by Heaven, they were ruining their own moral 
sense. Things were not right or wrong to them, be- 
cause right was eternal and divine, and wrong the 
transgression of that eternal right. How could that 
be ? For then the right things the Gentiles seemed to do 
wouldberight to the Divine mind ; and that supposition, 
in their eyes, was all but impious. None could do right 
but themselves, for they only knew the law of God. 
So, right with them had no absolute or universal 
ground, but was reduced, in their minds, to the per- 
formance of certain acts commanded exclusively to 
them, — a form of ethics which rapidly sank into the 
most petty and frivolous casuistry as to the outward 
performance of these acts. The sequel of those ethics 



INTRODUCTORY. 5 

is known to all the world, in the spectacle of the most 
unrivalled religiosity and scrupulous respectability, 
combined with a more utter absence of moral sense, in 
their most cultivated and learned men, than the world 
has ever beheld before or since."* 

The political condition of Palestine was no better 
than the religious. Alexander Jannseus, who reigned 
about 80 years before the birth of Christ, when raised 
to the throne, took 800 rebels who had held out 
against him for a considerable time, caused them all to 
be crucified, and, while they were yet hanging on the 
cross, he ordered their wives and children to be brought 
out and slaughtered before their eyes. He, himself, 
commanded the tables to be spread, and entertained 
his concubines to a sumptuous feast in a place from 
whence the horrible spectacle could be seen. After 
the death of Alexander a dispute between his two sons 
caused the Etonians to interfere, and, 40 years before 
the birth of Christ, Herod was made Sovereign of 
Judaea, by a decree of the Eoman Senate. He was 
neither of royal blood, nor even of the Jewish nation, 
and obtained possession of Jerusalem only by a siege 
and the slaughter of his opponents. Yet Herod was 
little more than a nominal king, and the large sums 
which he had to pay to Rome for its protection, com- 
pelled him to burden the Jewish people with heavy 
taxes which rendered his rule especially odious. The 
nation, therefore, was ripe for rebellion whenever an 
opportunity offered itself, and was only restrained 
through the fear of Eoman interference. Yet. amidst all 

# Alexandria and her Schools. 



6 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

this suffering and tyranny, the hopes of the people 
turned to the promised Son of David, in whom, they 
firmly believed, the royal line of Judah would be re- 
stored. It was not a moral deliverer they so much 
expected, as one who would set them politically free, 
and exalt them above Gentile nations. 

Among the Greeks and the Eomans, religion, if less 
used as a cloak to hide pride and selfishness, w r as still 
further divorced from truth and life. The early Greek 
was essentially a child of the imagination. To sur- 
render himself to her glowing charms, to draw argu- 
ments for her truth from the pliant melody of his 
language, was his delight, long before he had attained to 
that activity of intellect which placed him in the van 
of the world's civilization. The Greek mind was also 
remarkable for the strength of its devotional feelings, 
hence legend and tradition assumed invariably either 
a religious or a patriotic character. The Greek, 
with his quick eye for all that was beautiful in colour 
and graceful in form, found his Scripture in unclouded 
skies and the solemnities of night, and to his sensitive 
imagination the fairest objects of nature became in- 
vested with a living personality. As the country 
advanced in wealth and civilization temples were built 
and ceremonies instituted in honour of the gods ; till 
all that could charm the senses and dazzle the imagi- 
nation became blended with the popular religion. 
The ceremonies introduced were many of them derived 
from Egypt, where the manners of the people were 
licentious, and they proved fatal to the simple virtues 
of the wild tribes who, in their wanderings, had con- 
fined themselves to the plain acts of homage which 



INTRODUCTORY. 7 

such a life would permit. Thus the temples gradually 
became scenes of the grossest corruption. The tri- 
umph over Persia gave the only element wanting to 
complete the dissolution of manners, namely, riches, 
and thenceforward Athens was the seat not only of 
learning, but of vice of no ordinary kind. Corinth 
alone, whose commerce afforded even more wealth, 
seems to have outrun it in corruption. 

But while these corrupting influences were silently 
undermining the stern simplicity of Greek manners, 
the progress of knowledge was proving no less fatal to 
the religion of Mythology. The devout imagination 
of the elder Greek, which made him listen with awe to 
the wildest fables, now gave place to cold and sober 
reason. Poetry had been religion hitherto, now reli- 
gion was becoming mere poetry. Humanizing the 
Deity naturally produced in a more scientific age a 
familiarity fatal to respect. So, too, when man became 
better acquainted with his own nature, he w r as less 
satisfied with gods cast in a human mould. To remedy 
these defects in the popular religion, Philosophy came 
to its aid. It began to polish up the mythological 
tales and traditions, to allegorize and discover hidden 
meanings in them, and so refine and explain them 
away as to take from them even the semblance of 
reality. . Thus religion ceased to be a moral power, 
and instead of helping man to develop the better and 
nobler side of his nature, it became a powerful instru- 
ment in corrupting and degrading him. Yet, from 
time to time, in Greece, as in Judaea, men had arisen 
to utter a protest against the disgusting ceremonies 



8 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

and degrading superstitions of the popular faith and 
worship, and to speak a brave and timely word on 
behalf of public virtue. Among the higher philoso- 
phers of Greece a pure and simple Theism was gene- 
rally received. But this philosophy, even in democratic- 
Greece, was only for the few. The many were supposed 
to be utterly beneath it, and, it must be confessed, they 
did their best to be worthy of this reproach. It was not 
possible, however, that the people should be long blind 
to the indifference of the higher classes to the fables 
and ceremonies which those classes sanctioned with 
their presence or their silence, and this helped to destroy 
even the last remnant of that reverential feeling with 
which the people had been accustomed to look upon 
the ceremonies and fables. Thus the sacrifices began 
to be regarded only as a pleasant means of obtaining 
a good meal, and the ceremonies as a respite from 
labour, which offered also a little amusement. But 
the gods thus brought down to the level of men, 
ceased to command even respect from large masses of 
the people. How could it be otherwise ? No better 
faith was taught the people, and their superiors ap- 
peared to have none ; the result was, that the masses 
became brutalized, and careless of everything save sen- 
sual pleasure. 

The same state of things was brought about in Borne, 
and by similar causes, with this difference, perhaps — 
the Roman was endowed with a more inflexible will 
than the Greek, and hence he struggled more valiantly 
against the downward tendencies of Polytheism. But 
his struggle was of no avail. He, too, fell, and his 



INTRODUCTORY. 9 

fall was only different from that of the Greek, because 
it was lower — into a sensualism more gross and bar- 
barous still. 

Thus "it is impossible to read ancient history," 
says the author of the work " On the State of Man 
before the Promulgation of Christianity/' " without 
seeing that this process of corruption went on in 
every nation where polytheism prevailed ; and though 
the States which had consolidated the elements of 
their greatness under a purer system resisted for a 
time the progress of decay, it was not the less sure; 
and one empire after another exemplified the truth of 
the view we have taken. Public follows private im- 
morality, as surely as plants which have grown in the 
shade produce flowers and seed when the sun reaches 
them ; and public immorality weakens the hands of 
government, and ends in the complete dissolution of 
the empire, which can no longer find men of integrity 
to administer public affairs honestly and courageously." 
Thus when the spiritual faith dies out in the heart of 
the nation, political decline is sure to follow. This 
was the case in both Greece and Palestine, and for 
some time before the birth of Christ they could 
hardly be said to have an iudependent existence 
at all. 

The dispersion of the Jews, caused by the conquests 
of Alexander the Great, brought Jew and Greek into 
immediate contact for the first time. The conquests 
of Alexander caused new cities to spring up as the 
centres of political life, and opened up new lines of 
communication as the channels of commercial activity. 
The east and the west were suddenly united, and the 

B 3 



10 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

learning and the arts of Greece found their way into the 
mountain ranges of Pisidia and Lycaonia. The Tigris 
and the Euphrates became Greek rivers. The lan- 
guage of Athens was heard among the Jewish colonies 
of Babylon; and a Grecian Babylon was built by 
Alexander, and called by his own name.* Jews 
became the students and commentators of Plato, and 
as familiar with the poetry and philosophy of Greece, 
as with the writings of the Psalmists and Prophets of 
their native land. This, without doubt, did much to 
soften down national prejudices, and helped to widen 
the breach between the foreign and the home-bred 
Jew, and with the universal spread of the Greek 
tongue, helped to prepare a way for the Gospel. But 
the Greeks were too corrupt to hold long the domi- 
nion thus gained. On the death of Alexander, the 
empire which he had conquered fell to pieces, and was 
distributed among his generals. The independent 
kingdoms thus formed held together, with varying 
fortunes and success, till Rome, by successive con- 
quests, became mistress of the civilized world. 

Wherever the Greek w r ent, science and commerce, 
philosophy and poetry, followed in his path. In litera- 
ture and the arts, Borne did little more than imitate 
Greece. Yet Borne had its own characteristics, and 
these were quite as marked as those of any nation 
either in ancient or modern times. The idea of law 
and organization had grown with the growth of this 
singular people, and wherever they went it was carried 
with them like a mysterious presence. Universal 

* Convbeare and Howson. 



INTRODUCTORY. 11 

conquest and permanent occupation were the ends at 
which they aimed ; strength and organization the 
characteristics of their sway. Onward their legions 
went along the Eoman roads which pursued their 
undeviating course over plains and mountains, and 
bound the eternal city to the farthest extremities of 
the provinces, and wherever they went, governors and 
judges followed in their path. And yet it would be a 
great mistake to suppose that when the world was 
thus brought under the dominion of Koine, any real 
principle of unity held its different parts together. 
The Emperor was deified only because men were en- 
slaved. There was no true peace when Augustus 
closed the temple of Janus, and set himself to con- 
serve what had already been conquered. The empire 
was only the order of external government, upheld by 
brute force, while a chaos both of opinions and morals 
was within.- The old systems of civilization were 
manifestly passing away. Eome alone possessed any 
signs of vitality, and even she had entered on her 
downward course, and was fast becoming the slave of 
her own army. And yet, amidst all these signs of dis- 
organization and decay, it is not difficult to trace the 
hand of Divine Providence busily at work preparing 
the w T ay for a new and a nobler order of things. The 
dispersion of the Jews, with their sublime conception 
of the One true God who made the heavens and the 
earth, and governs all things with perfect justice, 
helped to familiarize men's minds with a truth which 
must be the basis of all true worship. The all but 

* Milman. 



12 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

universal diffusion of the Greek tongue was preparing 
a medium for the transmission of Christian thought 
and sentiment throughout the civilized world. And 
as no ancient tongue was so plastic or so beautiful as 
the Greek, none could he so well adapted for this 
purpose. Again, the wide- spread dominion of Eome 
made it necessary that good roads should he kept up 
between the city and the most distant provinces of the 
empire. These roads, by facilitating commerce, made 
the peaceful intercourse of nation with nation much 
easier than it had ever been before. They also became 
highways, along which the Christian missionary could 
travel with his message of glad tidings to the toiling, 
suffering, and sorrowing masses of all lands. The 
general reader of history may look at all this, and say 
it was the result of mere chance, that Jesus was 
born into a world thus needing a deliverer, and, 
unconsciously, preparing a variety of agencies which 
were to facilitate the spread of his doctrines, through 
a happy union of circumstances. But to us it seems 
as clearly the work of Divine Providence, as the 
rising and setting of the sun, or the periodic revolu- 
tion of the seasons. The winter winds sweep over 
woods and fields, leaving trees and hedge-rows bare and 
desolate, but future springs will be more green, and 
future summers more gorgeous for that desolation. 
We readily admit that God is governing the world of 
unconscious matter, why should we seek to exclude 
Him from the world of mind ? 



CHAPTER II. 



THE NEW KELIGION. 



' Ever would I fain be reading, 
In the ancient Holy Book, 
Of my Saviour's gentle pleading, 
Truth in every word and look. 

How when children came he bless' d them. 

Suffer' d no man to reprove, 
Took them in his arms, and press' d them 

To his heart with words of love. 

How to all the sick and tearful, 
Help was ever gladly shown : 

How he sought the poor and fearful, 
Call'd them brothers and his own. 

How no contrite soul e'er sought him, 

And was bidden to depart : 
How with gentle words he taught him, 

Took the death from out his heart.. 

Still I read the ancient story, 

And my joy is ever new, — 
How he lived so pure and holy, 

How he still is kind and true. 

How the flock he gently ieadeth, 
Whom his Father gave him here : 

How his arms he widely spreadeth, 
To his heart to draw us near. 

Let me come, my Lord, unto thee ; 

Let my heart with tears o'ernow ; 
Melted by thy love, revere thee ; 

Blest in thee, 'mid joy or woe." 



CHAPTER IT. 

THE NEW KELIGION. 

The New Testament, as most of our readers know, is 
not a single book, but a number of distinct books, 
written by, at least, eight different persons, and 
gathered, in early Christian times, into one volume. 
It comprises 27 books, and is usually divided into three 
portions, namely, Historical, Epistolary, and Propheti- 
cal. The four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles 
form the Historical portion. The 21 Epistles, or 
letters, written by the Apostles to individuals, to par- 
ticular churches, and to the general Church, form the 
Epistolary portion. The book of Revelation forms the 
Prophetical portion. These books give us an account 
of the origin of Christianity, a history of the first efforts 
made to propagate it in the world, and brief sketches 
of its Founder, and some of its first missionaries and 
teachers. The New Testament is accepted by all 
Christians as the rule, or standard, of Christian faith 
and practice, though some do not regard all the books 
of which it is composed as of equal value, or authority, 
holding that the words of Jesus, recorded in the 
Gospels, are of higher authority than those of Paul or 
John. 



16 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

In the Gospels we have an account of the life and 
teachings of Jesus Christ. The first three are largely- 
taken up with events which took place in Galilee, and 
with the closing scenes of Christ's life in Jerusalem. 
They describe Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, of w T hom 
Psalmists had sung and Prophets prophesied, and 
dwell more on the outward events of his life than on 
philosophical speculations regarding his Nature, Per- 
son, and Mission. In them we have an account of the 
Sermon on the Mount, with its heavenly beatitudes^ 
and noble lessons of practical religion, exalting the 
love of God and the love of man — being and doing 
good — far above mere ceremonial worship and the 
belief of a traditional creed. In them we read those 
wonderful parables of the Sower who went forth to 
sow, the good Samaritan, the Publican and Pharisee, 
the Prodigal Son, and many others, so brimful of 
Jewish life, yet so true to our human experience, that, 
after the lapse of eighteen centuries, they speak to our 
hearts in tones so deep and true, as to kindle our divinest 
sympathies and purest affections. Heading them to- 
day, we are not surprised to hear that the multitudes 
to whom they were first spoken, said of him who 
uttered them, " Surely never man spake as this man/* 
We,' too, if we have read them in the proper spirit, 
must many times have felt the same thought rise 
in our minds. The Gospel of John dwells less on 
the outward events of Christ's life, and more on 
his nature and mission. The events which this 
Gospel narrates bring more vividly before us Christ's 
life in Jerusalem. The discourses which it records 
seem, at first sight, more mystical and less practical 



THE NEW RELIGION. 17" 

than the parables and discourses of the other three. 
The writer is more anxious to give us a glimpse of the 
inner life of Jesus, and to describe his relationship to 
God on the one hand, and humanity on the other, than 
to prove that he was the -Messiah for whom the Jews- 
had been so anxiously looking. Evidently, therefore, 
St. John w T as not writing to Jewish converts, but to 
Gentiles as well, and at a time sufficiently remote from 
the death of Jesus to leave room for the growth of 
such questions as he seeks to meet. And this agrees 
well with the tradition which describes the Apostle as 
writing his Gospel, at an advanced age, in Ephesus, 
when heresies of Gentile origin were beginning to 
threaten the peace of the Church. But the chief 
interest of these Gospels must ever be sought in the 
life they record. We all know how much better it is 
to teach men by example than by precept, and here we 
find neither a code of dry rules, nor a number of 
elaborately drawn-out doctrines, but a life so beautiful 
in its sweet simplicity, yet so sublime in its moral 
victories, that while it speaks to our hearts with all the 
plenitude of a brother's love, it so transcends our actual 
experience as to be for ever calling upon us to leave 
the dull, beaten path on which we daily plod, and rise, 
through sterner conflict with evil, to its own freedom, 
holiness, and love. 

The history of the Acts of the Apostles was written 
by St. Luke. It contains the record of what was done 
by the disciples after the death of their Master, and 
gives a brief sketch of the labours and sufferings of 
some of the first Christian missionaries. Not much 
is known of St. Luke personally; he is generally sup- 



18 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

posed, however, to Lave been a native of Antioch, in 
Syria, and a physician by profession. He was for 
several years the companion of St. Paul in his mis- 
sionary travels ; hence we are largely indebted to St. 
Luke for what we know of the life and travels of St. 
Paul, and shall frequently require to quote from, or 
refer to, the Acts of the Apostles in the following 
pages. Of the 21 Epistles in the New Testament 14 
have been ascribed to Paul, though it seems very 
doubtful whether he was the author of more than 13. 
The Epistle to the Hebrews bears his name in our 
New Testament, but the question of who was the 
author of that letter has long been a matter of uncer- 
tainty, and the evidence on which it is supposed to be 
the production of the Apostle is very slight indeed. 
The writings of St. Paul, however, form a very im- 
portant portion of the New Testament, and as they 
were called forth by events in the Apostle's life, and the 
condition of the churches planted by him, some know- 
ledge of his life and the nature of his work is necessary 
even to a general understanding of them. We shall 
also quote from them, and refer to them when they 
throw light on the scenes of St. Paul's life into which 
we propose to enter. The other Epistles and the book 
of Revelation do not come much within the limits of 
our subject. 

Nothing, almost, is known of the early life of Jesus. 
Fancy may picture him in the humble, paternal home 
at Nazareth, slowly growing towards maturity, amidst 
the ordinary influences by which Jewish children of 
his own age and class were surrounded. But we 
know very little about him till the time when he was 



THE NEW RELIGION. 19 

about thirty years of age. Then we read of a fearful 
conflict that took place in his soul. The powers of 
good and evil seem to have contended for the mastery 
over him, but the good were triumphant. The temp- 
tation over, Jesus entered joyfully upon his great 
mission. Forth from the wilderness he went, preach- 
ing repentance, and proclaiming the advent of God's 
kingdom on the earth. The public ministry of Jesus 
began in Galilee, and many causes combined to make 
that the most appropriate scene for his early labours. 
The nation was expecting its promised deliverer, and 
men's minds were strangely excited with the belief that 
the time of his advent was at hand. 

After declaring his mission in the synagogue of 
Nazareth, Jesus went to Capernaum, and there, in 
the populous district which lay along the shore of 
the Galilean lake, he found a home and friends. The 
new Teacher found hearers in abundance. The multi- 
tudes followed him round the shore of the lake, and 
even went after him into the desert. But the excite- 
ment did not last long. The multitudes, eager to find 
a temporal deliverer, soon grew tired of one who pro- 
mised blessings only to the pure, the merciful, and 
the persecuted for righteousness' sake. John the 
Baptist had been put to death by Herod, and it 
seemed not improbable that Jesus also would be sacri- 
ficed to allay the tyrant's fear. The fickle multi- 
tudes went back to their homes, and the twelve disciples, 
whom Jesus had chosen to be his co-workers in the 
ministry, seemed to waver in their allegiance, drawing 
from him the sad question, '"' Will ye also go away ? " 
But the twelve did not leave him, and from this time 



20 SCENES EEOM THE LIEE OE ST. PAUL. 

it would appear that he devoted himself less to the 
multitude, and more to the disciples. He felt that 
his cause must be left in their hands, and laboured to 
make them comprehend his great spiritual teachings. 
To do so was no easy task, for the disciples had grown 
up in an atmosphere of Jewish prejudice and exclu- 
siveness. It was a difficult thing for them to rise 
above the traditions and the habits which they had 
imbibed with their mothers' milk. To the very last 
they do not seem to have understood the spiritual 
nature of their Masters kingdom, or his great doc- 
trines of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood 
of Man. It required men educated amidst different 
influences, and with minds enriched with a wider cul- 
ture, to do so. Nevertheless, there seems to have 
been a deep-rooted personal attachment binding the 
twelve to Christ. They probably felt that they were 
not eye to eye with him when he looked out on the 
great mysteries of life and death, time and eternity; 
but an atmosphere of love and purity surrounded him ? 
and a higher spirit was kindled in their souls by the 
love and the goodness which were breathed into his 
every word and deed. Thus, by ties deeper than they 
were themselves conscious of, were the twelve bound 
rather to the person than to the doctrines of Jesus. They 
clung to him, therefore, even when he turned his face 
sadly towards Jerusalem, conscious that it was the last 
time. Their worldly dreams were probably revived by 
the reception which their Master received on this, his 
last entry into the holy city ; for we find them, on the 
very day on which he was betrayed and made pri- 
soner, disputing about who should be greatest in his 



THE NEW RELIGION. 21 

kingdom. But the Scribes and the Pharisees foresaw 
more clearly the tendency of Christ's doctrines ; and, 
now thoroughly alarmed at his increasing popularity, 
they resolved to put a stop to it, by taking away his 
life. The story of his betrayal, mock trial, and cruci- 
fixion, needs not be told here. His disciples, filled 
"with dismay, fled from him in his last trial. His fate 
was so different from what they had hoped for, that, 
in terror, they knew not what to do. They loved him 
still, and would willingly have continued near him in 
his sufferings, but even Peter had not the moral 
courage to own him boldly in the presence of his 
persecutors. 

So far as outward appearances went, then, the 
triumph of the Scribes and Pharisees was complete. 
The germ of the new faith seemed crushed in the bud, 
but in reality it was far otherwise. Out of apparent 
evil an all-wise Providence oftentimes brings forth a 
higher good, and so it was in this instance. The 
event which seemed to blast for ever the cherished 
hopes and aspirations of the disciples, proved, in 
reality, to be the one which first gave them a glimpse 
of the spiritual nature of their Master's kingdom. 
Their dream of a temporal kingdom was dispelled; 
but as they passed in review the life and teachings of 
Jesus, a new light flashed upon their minds, and as 
the greatness of his thought began to dawn upon them, 
their Jewish prejudices would gradually give way. Christ 
was no longer with them on the earth, but, glorified 
in heaven, he was still their teacher and their leader. 
The cause for which he lived and suffered was ren- 
dered tenfold more sacred by his death. Inspired by 



22 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

his spirit, weak, doubting hearts became strong; and, 
with a cause so holy and an example so noble, to give 
them faith and nerve them for a life of toil and trial, 
they too rose' above fear, and were ready to lay down 
their lives at the call of duty, in the service of God 
and man. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE MiRTYBDOM OF STEPHEN. 



' The Son of God goes forth to war, 
A kingly crown to gain j 
His heavenly banner streams afar, 
Who follows in his train ? 

Who best can drink his cup of woe, 

Triumphant over pain, 
Who patient bears his cross below, 

He follows in his train. 

The martyr first, whose eagle eye 
Could pierce beyond the grave ; 

Who saw his Master in the sky, 
And cali'd on him to save. 

Like him, with pardon on his tongue, 

In midst of mortal pain, 
He pray'd for them that did the wrong ! 

And follow' d in Christ's train." 



CHAPTER III. 

THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 

To tlie very last, it would seem, the disciples cherished 
the hope that their Master would suddenly put forth his 
miraculous power, and establish a visible kingdom in 
power and glory on the earth. Their minds were clouded 
with Jewish prejudices, and they were not spiritual 
enough to grasp the idea of a kingdom of Heaven 
which cometh not with observation. The death on the 
Cross, therefore, must have been a sad blow to their 
worldly hopes. By that event, Christ's prophecy, 
uttered the night on which he was betrayed, was 
literally fulfilled. "Behold the hour cometh, yea, is 
now come, that ye shall be scattered every man to his 
own, and shall leave me alone : and yet I am not alone, 
because the Father is with me." After the death of 
Jesus, nothing seemed wanting to complete the victory 
of the Scribes and Pharisees; for who could have 
dreamed that a few terror-stricken disciples, "scattered 
every man to his own/' should ere long be transformed 
into valiant teachers and heroic martyrs ? The teach- 
ings of Jesus had doubtless taken a deep hold on 
the minds of his disciples, and, interpreted by his 
death, those teachings would assume a very different 

c 



26 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

aspect. The disciples must have recalled the fact, to 
which they had almost been wilfully blind during the 
lifetime of their Master, that he had endeavoured to 
prepare their minds for what had taken place. And 
the mere thought that he had foreseen such an event, 
and met it without shrinking, must have helped to 
calm their fears and revive their hopes. 

But the great event which rekindled their faith was 
the re-appearance of Jesus. The grave had not been 
able to hold him, for the disciples saw him and held 
converse with him again. He was no longer a dead, 
but a risen Lord, and would come again, so they 
thought, and restore the kingdom to Israel. This is 
the account which the New Testament gives of the 
revival of Christianity, after the apparent destruction of 
it by the death of Christ; and, to us, there seems a na- 
tural consistency between this account and the history 
of the planting of Christianity in the world. The Acts of 
the Apostles opens with an account of the first outward 
indications of this revival of faith in the hearts of the 
disciples. In the first chapter we read of 120 persons 
meeting in an upper room, in Jerusalem, to elect an 
Apostle in the room of Judas, who had betrayed Christ, 
and a strange interest gathers around that meeting. 
Here was the first public intimation that the new 
faith was not quite crushed out of the hearts of the 
disciples ; that a few persons, at least, were determined 
to remain united in the name of the crucified Jesus. 
The courage of a few inspired others to join them, and 
on the feast of Pentecost, a day associated in the 
popular mind with the giving of the Law on Sinai, a 
great outpouring of the Spirit took place, and 3000 



THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 27 

were added to the believers. You must not, however, 
suppose that the society thus formed was a Christian 
Church in our sense of the word. The Apostles, them- 
selves, had not, as yet, risen to the height of their 
Master's teachings. They had still to learn that God 
had made of one blood all nations of men, and accepted 
the doer of righteousness without reference to the race 
from which he sprang or the sect to which he belonged. 
As yet, the disciples were little more than a society of 
Jews; united for a common object, it is true, but 
that object, as we shall see, was certainly not to spread 
Christ's doctrines beyond the pale of Judaism. Never- 
theless, influences were at work, already, which were 
destined to lead to that result, but time and experience 
were needed to strengthen them. Unless we have 
some idea of what those influences were, it w 7 ill be diffi- 
cult to understand how r a mere Jewish society could 
grow into the Christian Church. 

In the sixth chapter of Acts, w 7 e read that, "When 
the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose 
a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, 
because their widows -were neglected in the daily minis- 
tration." This is the first indication we have of the 
existence of two parties among the disciples. The 
Grecians were Jews who had lived so long in some 
Greek city or colony as to have adopted the language 
and, to some extent, the manners and customs of the 
Greeks. These Grecians were very numerous in Jeru- 
salem about this time. They had several synagogues 
for their own use, the most celebrated of which was 
the Synagogue of the Alexandrians. It would appear 
that a number of these Grecians had joined the society 

c 2 



28 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

of the disciples, and were included among the 
followers of Christ. We have just adverted to 
that dispersion of the Jews through those countries 
where the Greek tongue was spoken, which gave rise 
to that division of the Jewish people, represented by 
the terms " Grecians " and " Hebrews" in the New 
Testament. The Hellenists, or Jews of the Grecian 
speech, did not use the same version of the Scriptures 
as their Hebrew or Aramaean brethren. They read the 
Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament 
made in Alexandria many years before the time of 
Christ. Now, a little reflection will soon show you 
that there must have been a considerable difference 
between a genuine Hebrew and one of those Hellenists 
or Grecians. A Jew who had lived always in Pales- 
tine, or, at most, never travelled beyond Syria, where a 
language similar to his own, and with which his own 
became blended, was spoken, would be more intensely 
national than one who had grown up in a Greek or 
Eoman city, or by travel had come in contact with the 
most enlightened men of all nations. The homebred 
Jew would be much more likely to confound what was 
temporal with what was eternal in his national religion, 
than the foreign Jew, who had learnt from experience 
that all truth, honour, and piety, were not of Jewish 
origin. This is a fact which we shall find abundantly 
illustrated among ourselves, and particularly by our 
own sectarian divisions. When you find a man 
or a woman reading only one class of books, you 
may be sure you have found a sectarian, and 
nothing more. Such a person is creed-bound, and a 
stranger to the truth which makes a man free. Sup- 



THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 29 

pose that a man were to shut himself up in his own 
garden, and say, " These walls and that fence which 
hem me in are the limits of God's universe : beyond 
there is nothing hut darkness and chaos." Day after 
day, he goes the round of his universe, and never deigns 
to look beyond the fence and the wall. Spring comes 
with her sweet warm breath, and the meadow beyond 
is carpeted with flowers ; the distant wood bursting 
into leaf and rinsing with love-sonsfs. But our friend's 

Do o 

range of vision is limited to his garden. His geo- 
graphy and natural history all lie there ; and he laughs 
or sneers at you when you tell him what a mere frag- 
ment of God's great universe his petty enclosure is. 
Well, such a man is a fair type of the sectarian who 
limits his reading to one class of books, and his hearing 
to one set of preachers. How can he- help being 
bigoted ? If his creed is all light, and the creed of 
those who differ from him all darkness, how can the 
light hold communion with the darkness ? This spirit 
would have hidden the glorious Gospel of Christ under 
a bushel, and set up a Jewish rush-light in its stead ; it 
would have kept Europe in bondage to the Pope, and, 
to this day, it lies at the root of all sectarian bitterness, 
and causes men to trample on that charity which 
thinketh no evil. If you want to be loyal disciples, 
then, of him who said, " the truth shall make you free," 
do not let your sympathies flow only in one direction : 
listen to what those who differ from you have to say, 
and acknowledge the good and the true wherever you 
find them. This is the only way to rise above bigotry, 
to become large-hearted and free, and to lay hold of 
that charity which is greatest of all. 



30 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

We are not surprised, therefore, to learn, that when 
the Grecians joined the society of the disciples, they laid 
hold of Christ's doctrines, and began to interpret them 
in a spirit more in harmony with their breadth and 
universality than the Apostles had yet done. Stephen, 
one of the seven deacons chosen by the disciples to 
attend to the u daily mmSstratiotts," and to relieve the 
Apostles from a work which was already beginning to 
be more than they could attend to, was a Grecian. 
He was a Jew, educated in the faith and hope common 
to his race, but with a mind enriched by a wider 
culture. His preaching soon attracted attention, and, 
being zealous for the truth, he disputed in the Grecian 
synagogues of Jerusalem with those who clung to the 
old faith. In those days, Christians went beyond 
their own borders to argue with their opponents and 
gain converts to their cause. They shared the reward 
of all innovators on the " good old ways." They were 
called " troublesome fellows," " men seeking to turn 
the world upside down." And these epithets were 
often used with perfect sincerity, we can well believe, for 
many still clung affectionately to the old systems, and 
must needs have looked with horror on the disciples, 
who were exciting men's minds with their new ideas, 
and leading away young feet trained to walk in the 
good old ways, from the path made smooth by the 
tread of former generations. We can picture to our- 
selves, then, Stephen in the Grecian synagogues, 
pleading, with all the earnestness of deep conviction, 
the cause of the crucified Jesus. And we can also 
imagine how his opponents would try to silence Jnm, 
first with arguments, then with misrepresentation, 



THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 31 

calumny, and abuse. These failing, they had another 
mode of putting down heresy in those days ; as a last 
resource, they could stone, imprison, or crucify the 
heretic. Argument having proved of no avail against 
Stephen, his opponents laid hands upon him and 
dragged him before the Sanhedrin, or Jewish High 
Court, saying, " This man ceaseth not to utter 
blasphemous words against this holy place and the 
law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of 
Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change 
the customs which Moses delivered us." This charge 
is very suggestive. We are told that it was sustained 
by false witnesses ; but if the witnesses were false, it 
was in the motives which they attributed to Stephen, 
and not in the report they gave of his teachings; for, 
not to go further than the prisoner's own defence, we 
think the charge was amply proved. The spirit of 
Christianity and the spirit of Judaism were brought 
face to face once more. The Temple, the Mosaic law, 
r.he manners and customs of the Jews, were all in 
danger; and the instinct of self-preservation made the 
worshippers of the temple zealous to maintain the 
sacredness of their Holy of Holies. The first persecu- 
tion of the disciples, after the death of Jesus^ was 
brought about by the Sadducees, who were annoyed 
because the Apostles taught, through Jesus, the re- 
surrection from the dead.* On that occasion, the 
Pharisees appear to have taken the part of the 
disciples, clearly implying that, as yet, the latter had 
not in their teachings shown any hostility to the 

* Acts iv. 2. 



32 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

Jewish law. But the ease was altogether different 
when the freer Grecians began to speak in the name 
of Jesus in the synagogues. The Pharisees at once 
saw that here w T as the same tendency which they had 
dreaded in Jesus beginning to show itself among his 
followers. Accordingly, the Pharisees took the lead 
in the persecution of Stephen, as they had done in 
regard to Christ. 

The line of defence adopted by Stephen was the 
best" possible, in the circumstances. It is very sug- 
gestive, as showing how distinctly he w r as the fore- 
runner of St. Paul, and as the first illustration we 
have of the attitude -which Christianity assumed when 
it began to threaten Judaism. The judges apparently 
listened to Stephen's defence patiently, till the spirit of 
the new faith began to manifest its hostility to the 
forms and symbols of the old. Then, w r hen their 
minds were inflamed with party passions, the judges 
rose against the accused, and the spirit of bigotry did 
its work. Stephen was charged with seeking to 
destroy the temple, and uttering blasphemous words 
against Moses and against God. He began his defence 
by assuming the divinity of the Mosaic economy. 
He traced the growth of the Jewish faith down 
through Abraham and Moses, till the time when 
Solomon reared a temple for the Most High. But it 
was no part of the Jewish religion to believe that 
Jehovah dwelt in temples made with human hands, 
for had not the prophet Isaiah declared of God, 
" Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool; 
what house will ye build me ? saith the Lord, or what 
is the place of my rest? " Then the speaker, forget- 



THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 33 

ting himself, as it were, in the magnitude of his suhject, 
allowed his indignation to gush forth in a torrent 
of rehuke against the hard-hearted, unbelieving Jews, 
whose conduct had been the same to all God's ap- 
pointed teachers from Moses to Christ. " Ye stiff- 
necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears," he con- 
tinues, " ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your 
fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have 
not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them 
which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of 
whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers : 
who have received the law by the disposition of angels, 
and have not kept it." 

The meaning of Stephen's address now flashed upon 
the minds of his judges and accusers. He had been 
quoting their own law against them, and showing that, 
though they were zealous in building the tombs of 
the prophets and garnishing the sepulchres of the 
righteous, yet they were the true successors of those 
who had, in former generations, stoned and sawn in twain 
the prophets. Up to this point the accused was heard 
with comparative calmness. There was a majesty in 
his bearing which kept his persecutors in awe of him- 
In the expressive language of St. Luke, his enemies^. 
" looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as if it had 
been the face of an angel." It was the face of a man 
whose soul was lighted up with a great truth. Well 
therefore, might it be compared to that of an angel. 
Our readers must have seen many times how r the emotions 
of the mind gleam forth from the countenance— how 
indignation, fear, pity, flash from the eye and quiver 
on the lip. Even a plain face may be so illuminated 

c 3 



34 SCENES FBOM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

by a noble sentiment as to lose its plainness, and be- 
come, for the time being, at least, what all men would 
call beautiful. The soul of every man, such as it is, 
looks through his eyes and shines in his face ; and in 
moments of great excitement, when the spirit of the 
life seems to culminate, the soul gleams in every 
feature ; it can impart a beauty which no plainness has 
power to conceal, a deformity which the fairest features 
in vain try to hide. The face of Stephen shone as that 
of an angel, because the soul of Stephen was inspired 
by a great faith, then on its trial. But there is no 
heart so hard as the bigot's. No sooner did the 
meaning and purpose of Stephen's defence flash upon 
the minds of his accusers and judges, than their rage 
burst through all bounds. They stopped their ears, 
that they might not be defiled by what they regarded 
blasphemy; threw themselves on the prisoner, and 
dragged him from the judgment-seat to the place 
of execution, thus setting aside even the semblance 
of justice, and, as some suppose, committing an actual 
murder; for it seems more than doubtful whether the 
Sanhedrin, at that time, was lawfully entitled to pass 
sentence of death without the concurrence of the 
Eoman Governor. Bravely did the first Christian 
martyr meet his fate. His calmness was in marked 
contrast with the violence and excitement of his ene- 
mies. They were filled with rage almost to madness; 
the unholy fires of bigotry were burning in their 
bosoms, consuming every impulse of mercy as well as 
justice. He, filled with the Holy Spirit, forgot his own 
sufferings in compassion for his murderers, and, praying 
that God might not lay the sin which they were com- 



THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 35 

mitting to their charge, he, in the expressive language 
of Scripture, " fell asleep." His spirit passed away 
from the earthly strife to a land where the persecutor 
and the bigot have no power. 

Thus the new development of Christian truth of which 
Stephen was the representative, was apparently checked 
in the bud; for it cannot be denied that Stephen died 
not only a martyr for the truth of the Gospel in general, 
but, more particularly, for the nobler phase of it which 
began with him, and seemed to expire with him. But 
once more the Providence of God brought good out of 
seeming evil. As the death of Christ brought new life 
to his followers, so Stephen s martyrdom for the truth 
helped to hasten its victory. Among those who took 
part in this persecution was a young man named Saul. 
He was a native of the famous city of Tarsus, the 
capital of the Roman province of Cilicia, in Asia Minor, 
by birth a Jew, and trained from infancy to conform to 
the rules of the straitest of Jewish sects. Of a warm 
temperament, and full of zeal for what he deemed 
the truth, this young man played no lukewarm part in 
the persecution which began with the martyrdom of 
Stephen. But who could have imagined that the fiery 
persecutor was destined, ere long, to become the earnest 
and fearless Christian missionary who was to take up 
the work which Stephen had so nobly begun, and 
be the representative to that age of the freedom and 
spirituality of the Gospel ? Yet so it was : the death 
of Stephen was sowing seed in that young man's heart, 
which was destined to bear much fruit. Saul was 
being educated for a work the magnitude of which, 
even at this distance of time, seems miraculous. The 



3G SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

temple was to be destroyed ; the partition wall between 
Jew and Gentile to be broken down : and Saul, the 
zealous Pharisee, was to be the chief instrument, under 
God's Providence, in doing both. Think of him, then, 
as he must have followed to the place of execution, 
outside the city walls, the multitude who dragged 
Stephen, or, as he stood in charge of the clothes of the 
witnesses, who, according to the Jewish law r , would be 
required to throw the first stones at the condemned. You 
see a pale, somewhat careworn face ; a lofty brow; a 
clear, piercing eye ; a physical frame not apparently 
fitted for much endurance ; and the outward mien of 
a Jewish Pharisee. But you cannot see the inward 
contending emotion, as the young man asks himself, 
whether there must not be much goodness and some 
truth in a cause which could inspire a man to die 
so heroically? You cannot see the heart's sympa- 
thies, yearning to take part with the martyr, but held 
back by a thousand Pharisaic fears and doubts. You 
cannot see how that scene was burning itself on the 
memory of at least one witness. But be assured of 
this — Saul, the Pharisee, the respectable man, the 
favourite pupil of the renowned Gamaliel, and the hope 
of his sect, has learned a lesson which time is not 
destined to efface. He dares hardly confess, even to 
himself perhaps, the leaven which has begun to work 
within him ; and he will try to check it, as others have 
done under similar circumstances, by doubling his 
zeal : but it will be all to no purpose. Truth is strong, 
and when it finds a fitting soil in a true human heart, 
it is not easily uprooted. 



CHAPTER IV. 



SAUL OF TAESUS. 



i l Now the cliild is small and weak, 
Simplest words he cannot speak ; 
Soon he will with power "be fraught, 
Feeding on divinest thought ! 
Now the child is rock'd to rest 
Meekly on a mother s breast : 
Soon he will in manhood roam, 
And the world will be his home ! 
Thus he may, from hour to hour, 
Rise from weakness into power, 
Studying out the good and true, 
With eternity in view ; 

Until at length, 
He may put forth a prophet's strength." 

"I am verily a man who am a Jew, • born in Tarsus, a city in 
Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught 
according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was 
zealous toward Grod, as ye all are this day." 

St. Paul. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SAUL OP TARSUS, 

It may be interesting to our readers to go back, in 
order to catch a glimpse of that young mans previous 
life, at whose feet the witnesses who stoned Stephen 
threw down their clothes. He was a Jew, born in the 
city of Tarsus, and, by education and sympathy, con- 
nected with the sect of the Pharisees. Y\ T e cannot tell 
the precise year in which he was born, but it must 
have been while Jesus was a child. Tarsus was the 
capital of the Eoman province of Cilicia, in Asia Minor. 
If you look at the map you will see Asia Minor to the 
north-west of Syria, and in the south-east corner of 
Asia Minor, washed by the waves of the Mediterranean 
Sea, is the province of Cilicia. At the time of the 
Apostle's birth it was under the government of the 
Romans, but to all intents and purposes it was a Greek 
city, where the Greek language was spoken, and Greek 
literature well known. It is even said that, in all that 
relates to philosophy and general education, Tarsus was 
more celebrated, at that time, than either Athens or 
Alexandria, The boy Saul, therefore, would learn to 
speak Greek as his native tongue. But his father was 



40 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

a Jew, and not only a Jew, but a Pharisee, a member 
of one of the narrowest Jewish sects ; hence it is sup- 
posed, by some, that he would send his son to a school 
where he would learn to read the Hebrew Scriptures in 
the tongue still held sacred by the Jews of Palestine. 
This is probable, but far from certain; for in after 
years the Apostle never quotes from the Hebrew Bible, 
but from the Septuagint, a Greek translation of it then 
in general use among foreign Jews. It is possible, 
therefore, that the boy Saul learned to read the Old 
Testament in its Greek form; hence the language 
which he spoke on Mars' Hill, and in which all his 
Epistles were written, may have been the one with 
which his earliest religious associations were blended, 
Nevertheless, the Hebrew, as spoken in Palestine, 
would not be altogether a foreign tongue to the youth- 
ful Saul; for though his parents, from the necessity 
which made them live in a heathen city, were com- 
pelled to adopt the Greek language, yet they were not 
in the least inclined to adopt Greek habits or Greek 
opinions, and would naturally preserve every trace of 
their Jewish origin. They were Hellenists, or Jews of 
the Grecian speech, by accident rather than convic- 
tion ; hence, they would keep themselves as much apart 
as possible from the heathen influences by which they 
were surrounded in Tarsus. The manner in which 
the Apostle speaks of his early education, his father, 
and his forefathers, puts all doubt on this head at rest. 
He was by birth and early training, to use his own 
expressive phrase, a " Hebrew of the Hebrews." " Are 
they Hebrews ? so am I. Are they Israelites ? so am 



SAUL OF TAESUS. 41 

I. Are they of the seed of Abraham? so am I. ' * 
" And profited in the Jews' religion more than many 
my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly 
zealous of the traditions of my fathers." t Thus, there 
is little doubt that though Saul was the native of a 
city filled with a Greek population, and incorporated 
with the Roman Empire, he was born, and spent the 
earliest years of his life, beneath the shelter of a home 
that was Hebrew, not in appearance only, but in the 
very spirit of its inner life. He grew up a Jewish boy, 
and as such would early become familiar with the Law 
and the Prophets, and the sad, yet glorious, history of 
the chosen people. 

The little we do know about his parents, and his 
early life in Tarsus and Jerusalem, is mainly derived 
from hints in his own letters. We cannot say, with 
any certainty, what the worldly circumstances of his 
father were, but from the fact of his being a Roman 
citizen, and from the education he gave his son, we are 
probably not far wrong in supposing that he was pretty 
well off. Neither does the fact that Saul was taught 
the trade of a tent-maker lessen the probability of this 
supposition. It was a custom among the Jews that all 
boys should learn a trade, no matter what the circum- 
stances of their parents might be. The Jewish pro- 
verb said, " If a father does not teach a son a trade, he 
is teaching him to steal ;" and Rabbi Gamaliel saith, 
Ci He that hath a trade in his hand, to what is he like? 
he is like a vineyard that is fenced." In conformity 
with this wholesome, noble custom of his race, the 

* 2 Cor. xi. 22. t Gail. i. U. 



42 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

father of Saul either taught his son himself, or sent 
him to be taught, how to make tents. Thus, he did his 
best to fortify him against idleness or adversity ; we 
shall see by-and-by to what purpose. 

The trade of tent-making was intimately connected 
with the province of Cilicia. The material used in 
making tents was a kind of hair-cloth, which took its 
name of * Cilieiuni" from the province in which it was 
made. And it is a reasonable conjecture that Saul's 
father may have been engaged in some branch of the 
same business. But whatever his position in life and 
employment may have been, it seems pretty certain 
that he possessed the only kind of respectability worth 
much. The education and early religious training he 
gave his son prove that he must have been at once a 
faithful father, and a devout, God-fearing man. The 
Apostle says that " he served God from his fore- 
fathers," thus implying that he was descended from a 
godly race, of whose memory he was justly proud. 
But, if we know little about Saul's father, we know 
still less about his mother, for even her very name has 
passed into oblivion. The Apostle had, at least, one 
sister, and this makes up nearly all we really know of 
his early life. Yet we may picture his life, as it must 
have passed away in his early Jewish home, from facts 
that have come down to us regarding other Jewish 
boys of that age. And we are so apt to imagine Paul 
only as the brave, fearless Apostle, enduring all things 
for the love of Christ and the salvation of the world, 
that it is well to remember he was once a little child, 
learning, through the discipline and experience of a 
wisely- ordered home, to be subject to a guidance higher 



SAUL OF TARSUS. 43 

than his own. How well the youthful Saul learned 
that lesson is borne witness to by all the subsequent 
events of his life. In his fifth year he would begin to 
read the Scriptures, and in his thirteenth to study the 
Law. He would be taught, too, to conform to all the 
rules of the Pharisees, and, from an early age, become 
familiar with all the forms of Jewish worship. What 
part, if any, the scenery of his early home may have 
played in the education of his mind it is difficult to 
say ; but as it will be interesting and useful to our 
readers, as helping them to conceive with more vivid- 
ness the outward features of his early home, we abridge 
the following description from the valuable work of 
Messrs. Conybeare and Howson: — 

"Though a cloud rests on the actual year of the 
Apostle's birth, and the circumstances of his father's 
household must be left to imagination, we have the 
great satisfaction of knowing the exact features of the 
scenery in the midst of which his childhood was spent. 
The plain, the river, and the sea still remain to us. 
The rich harvests of corn still grow luxuriantly after 
the rains of spring. The same tents of goat's hair are 
still seen covering the plains in the busy harvest. 
There is the same solitude and silence in the intoler- 
able heat and dust of the summer. Then, as now, the 
mothers of Tarsus went out in the cool evenings and 
looked from the gardens round the city, or from the 
terraced roofs upon the heights of Taurus. The same 
sunset lingered on the pointed summits. The same 
shadows gathered in the deep ravines. The river 
Cydnus has suffered some changes in the course of 
1800 years. Instead of rushing in a stream 200 



44 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL'. 

feet broad through the city, it now flows idly past it 
on the east, but its upper waters still flow, as formerly, 
cold and clear from the snows of Taurus, and its 
waterfalls still break over the same rocks w r hen the 
snows are melting. We find a pleasure in thinking 
that the footsteps of the young Apostle often wandered 
by the side of this stream, and that his eyes often 
looked on these falls. We can hardly believe that he 
who spoke to the Lystrians of the ( rain from heaven/ 
and the e fruitful seasons/ and the 'living God who 
made heaven and earth and sea/ could have looked 
with indifference on beautiful scenery. Gamaliel was 
celebrated for his love of nature ; and the young Jew, 
who was destined to be his most famous pupil, spent 
his early days in the close neighbourhood of much that 
was well adapted to foster such a taste. And if it be 
contended that he would be more likely to be impressed 
with the realities of human life than by the outward 
impressions of nature, then let the youthful Saul be 
imagined on the banks of the Cydnus, where it flowed 
through the city in a stream less clear and fresh, where 
the wharves were covered with merchandize, in the 
midst of groups of men in various costumes, speaking 
various dialects. Tarsus was a point of union for 
men of all nations ; and here, at an early age, Saul 
might become familiar with the activities of life and 
die diversities of human character, and thus, even in 
his childhood, make some acquaintance with those 
various races which in his manhood he was destined 
to influence." 

At what age Saul left Tarsus to pursue his studies 
in Jerusalem is not certain, but the probability is that 



SAUL OF TARSUS. 45 

lie became a pupil of Gamaliel in Ins thirteenth year. 
If so, he would not undertake the journey to the Jewish 
capital alone. His father, most likely, would go with 
him, and we can picture to ourselves that first leave- 
taking and journey to the land of his fathers. If you 
look at the map you will see that it would he more 
natural, in an age when there were plenty of good 
vessels sailing along the Phoenician coast, to take the 
journey from Tarsus to Palestine by sea rather than 
by land. Hence, we are probably not far wrong in 
supposing that Saul and his father sailed to Ceesarea 
in a Phoenician trader, and travelled from thence to 
Jerusalem. To a youth instructed as Saul was in the 
glorious history of his fatherland, it would be an event 
of no ordinary interest, this first visit to Palestine. 
What he felt, and how he looked on the scenes that 
were associated with the most memorable events of his 
race, we can only faintly imagine. The kind of school 
in which he became a learner we can better describe. 
There were several celebrated schools in the Jewish 
capital at that time, but the most famous was that of 
Gamaliel, in which Saul of Tarsus became a pupil. 
Gamaliel was a Pharisee, but being a man of liberal cul- 
ture, he rose, in some measure, above the narrowness 
and prejudices peculiar to his sect. His love of nature 
has been specially recorded. He was also well versed in 
the literature and learning of the Greeks, and through 
him Saul may have gained that knowledge of Greek 
poetry, which on one occasion, at least, he turned to 
good account as a Christian Missionary. We may 
picture to ourselves the future Apostle of the Gentiles 
as, day after day, he must have mingled with his fellow- 



46 ' SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

students in the school-room of Gamaliel, or sat listen- 
ing to the instructions of the master. The teacher, 
with his quick eye and flowing beard, is seated in the 
centre. Instruction would be given in Hebrew and 
Greek, and probably Latin, but by far the largest por- 
tion of the time would be devoted to the study of the 
Jewish Scriptures. The Law and the Prophets would 
be expounded by the teacher, and the pupils would 
be encouraged to ask questions and state difficulties. 
Thus, it was a school for debate as well as instruction, 
where mind acted on mind, and the students were 
trained early to become intellectually active, and to 
find ready utterance for their own thoughts. That 
St. Paul became a celebrated pupil of Gamaliel's 
school is a fact of which there can be very little doubt ; 
the training he underwent, too, fitted him most admir- 
ably for the work he was destined to perform. But it 
must not be supposed that Gamaliel, though so free in 
other respects, was lax in his interpretation of the law. 
On the contrary, he was universally regarded as a 
Pharisee of the Pharisees ; strict, beyond even the 
letter of the law, to all the forms of legal piety. 
Through intercourse, therefore, with him all the Phari- 
saic tendencies developed in Saul's mind in his Tarsus 
home would be strengthened and confirmed. 

How long the Apostle remained at the school of 
Gamaliel we cannot tell, but it is probable that he 
returned to Tarsus before the time of Christ's public 
ministry began. Had he been living in Jerusalem 
during the time that Jesus taught in the temple, or 
when the Crucifixion took place, it is hardly possible 
to suppose that he would have remained silent after 



SAUL OF TARSUS. 47 

his conversion regarding facts of so much importance. 
We may assume, therefore, that Saul left Jerusalem 
before the public ministry of Jesus began, but we have 
no knowledge of how the intervening years of his life 
were spent. The training he had received so far, only 
seemed to have deepened within him the love of sect 
and race ; to have made him more peculiarly a Hebrew 
of the Hebrews. No doubt, his parents, if still alive, 
must have been not a little proud of the learning and 
ability displayed by their son. They had every ap- 
parent reason for congratulating themselves on the 
success which had attended their plans for his educa- 
tion. Before the young man himself, too, what a 
glorious future prospect must have opened out ! He 
may be pardoned, surely, even though his dreams 
were not altogether free from worldly ambition, for his 
motives were, at least, pure, and his hopes of personal 
advancement closely blended with what he regarded as 
the best interests of his sect and race. But, alas ! his 
own hopes, and the hopes of his friends, if they turned 
that way, were destined to receive a great shock. All 
the learning and experience which this young, ardent, 
enthusiastic student had been acquiring were to belaid 
at the foot of the Cross. He, himself, was to become 
a homeless wanderer, and, in renouncing worldly ambi- 
tion, rise through a life of noble self-sacrifice to a 
pinnacle of glory far higher than Jewish rabbi ever 
dreamed of. 

It is impossible to estimate aright the worth of the 
various influences which contributed to the education 
of the Apostle. His early life, like that of Christ, is 
very little known ; but from the little we do know we 



43 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

are led to believe that Paul could not have passed 
through a better training than the one he did pass 
through as a preparation for the great work he was 
destined to perform in the world. In the Acts of the 
Apostles, and the Apostle's own Epistles, we have 
such a picture of the man himself that without much 
difficulty we may form a vivid conception of his 
noble life. 



CHAPTER V. 



GOING TO DAMASCUS. 



" The mid-day sun, with fiercest glare, 
Broods o'er the hazy, twinkling air ; 

Along the level sand 
The palm-tree's shade unwavering lies, 
Just as thy towers, Damascus, rise 

To greet yon wearied band! 

The leader of that martial crew 
Seems bent some mighty deed to do, 

So steadily he speeds, 
With lips firm closed and fixed eye 
Like warrior when the fight is nigh, 

Nor talk nor landscape heeds. 

"What sudden blaze is round him pour'd, 
As though all heaven's refulgent hoard 

In one rich glory shone ? 
One moment — and to earth he falls : 
What voice his inmost heart appals — 

Voice heard by him alone 1 

For to the rest both words and form 
Seem lost in lightning and in storm, 

While Saul, in wakeful trance, 
Sees deep within that dazzling field 
His persecuted Lord reveal'd, 

With keen yet pitying glance. " 

Keble. 

" We were there at ' noon.' There was the cloudless blue sky over- 
head ; close in front the city wall, in part still ancient ; around it, 
the green mass of groves and orchards ; and beyond them, and deeply 
contrasted with them, on the south, the white top of Hermon ; on the 
north, the grey hills of Salihyeh. Such, according to the local belief, 
was St. Paul's view when the light became darkness before bim, and 
he heard the voice which turned the fortunes of mankind." 

Professor Stanley. 



CHAPTER V. 

GOING TO DAMASCUS. 

When 'Saul left his home in Tarsus, and went to 
Jerusalem the second time, he was still a young man, 
though certainly not a mere youth. The Jewish phrase, 
m a young man/' w T as used very indefinitely, and the 
Apostle must have been at least thirty years of age 
when he took part in the martyrdom of Stephen. He 
was learned in all that pertained to Jewish history and 
religion, and not altogether unacquainted with the 
noble literature of Greece. He was endowed with 
high mental gifts, great energy of character, and pos- 
sessed an impetuous, enthusiastic temperament, not 
easily kept under the control of the will. Saul was 
evidently a man fitted to play a leading part in what- 
ever work he put his hand to, and sure to leave an 
impression of himself upon the world. A mighty work 
stood waiting for him, for which he was, both by edu- 
cation and temperament, especially fitted; but as yet 
Tie did not see it, for he fancied that it lay in an 
opposite direction from that in which it did lie. 

It has been supposed by same that Saul was one of 
the persons against whom Stephen contended in the 
Grecian synagogue. This supposition is at least pro- 

d 2 



52 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

bable, for the Apostle must have been in Jerusalem 
before the persecution broke out ; and as the synagogue 
of the Cilicians is mentioned as one of those where 
Stephen disputed, nothing seems more likely than that 
the Apostle was at least present. But, whether this 
were so or not, we know that Saul of Tarsus took part 
in the martyrdom of Stephen, and became the leader 
of the persecution which followed. 

The death of Stephen may have checked for a time 
the further development and progress of the new reli- 
gion in Jerusalem, for we read, that "the disciples 
were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of 
Judsea and Samaria." The disciples were driven from 
the Jewish capital, but not from their principles. 
Wherever they went, they carried with them the seeds 
of the new faith, so that Christianity took root in other 
cities, and became the stronger for every attempt made 
to crush it. So it always is, for " the blood of the 
martyr is the seed of the Church." The Jewish San- 
hedrin could fetter the limbs and murder the body, but 
the progress of Divine truth it could not arrest. If the 
believers were scattered abroad, they could still bear 
witness for God and Christ, and thus form new centres 
of religious life in distant cities. 

Seeing that such was the only visible result of his 
labour, Saul must needs extend the persecution to dis- 
tant cities. Burning with Pharisaic zeal, he went to 
the high priest, and besought of him letters to the 
synagogue in Damascus, where he had reason to be- 
lieve that many of the persecuted disciples had found 
shelter. The Jewish high priest claimed and exercised 
authority, in religious matters, over the Jews in foreign 



GOING TO DAMASCUS. 53 

cities. The Jews in Damascus were a numerous and 
influential body, and there were peculiar circumstances 
in the political condition of Damascus at that time 
which favoured such a mission as that of Saul.* 
Accordingly, armed with official authority, the young 
zealot set forth on his journey, resolved, "if he found 
any of this way, whether they were men or women, 
to bring them bound to Jerusalem." Thus, Saul has 
evidently risen to be the leader of the persecuting party, 
and is resolved to leave no stone unturned behind 
which the disciples could find shelter. But the fact 
of his entering into the persecution which followed the 
death of Stephen so warmly, and of his undertaking 
this mission to Damascus, seems to throw doubt on 
the suggestion already made, that the Apostle's Jewish 
faith received a shock from the martyr's noble defence 
and heroic death, from which it never recovered. So 
far from this being the case, may it not be urged that 
the increased zeal of the persecutor goes to prove that 
his faith had begun to waver? We must not always 
judge by outward appearances. Nothing is more 
common than for deep, earnest natures, to cover with 
outward zeal the ground which is inwardly lost ; and 
there is no persecutor so fiery as the man who is be- 
ginning to be half conscious that his opponents have 
the better side of the argument. The honest mind 
soon shakes itself free from such a false position, but 
its first efforts to do so are not unfrequently attempts 
to go backwards. If we are right in supposing that 
any such change was going on in the mind of Saul, he 

* Neander. 



54 SCENES FROM THE; LIFE QE ST. PAUL. 

must have looked on his. doubts, in the first instama,, 
as the suggestions of the Evil One, and would naturaEy 
seek to fortify himself against them:. Bat it was hard 
to forget the dying look of the Christian martyr, anai 
to stifle the rising thought,/' There must be somethia&g. 
of God in the cause which can inspire a man to die so 
nobly.," Be that as it may, it seems only reasonable 
to believe that the mind of the Apostle was ripe for a 
change, or he would have been more likely to attribute 
the miraculous light and appearance of Jesus, on his 
way to Damascus, to Satanic than to heavenly agency., 
If you look at the map, you will see Damascus to 
the north-east of Jerusalem. The distance between 
the two cities is about 136 miles. Damascus is the 
oldest city in the world, and has been in all ages one 
of great importance in the East. In going thither, the 
Apostle and his company must have passed through 
Samaria and Galilee, but at what point they earner 
nearest to the scene of Christ's early labours in Galilee 
we do not know. Little has been preserved of that 
journey save the one great, event which was to give 
immortality to it.. Still, it is interesting to know that 
the Apostle, in passing through Samaria, must have 
come to "a city which is called Sychar, near to the 
parcel of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph," 
and may have rested by the same well where Jesus, 
some years before, expounded to the Samaritan woman 
his' great doGtrine of spiritual worship, telling her of 
the Universal Father who is a Spirit to be worshipped 
in spirit and in truth ; not specially on a mountain m 
Samaria, nor in the Temple of Jerusalem, but on any 
spot where true hearts meet, or pious thoughts lift the 



GOING TO DAMASCUS. 55 

soul above the turmoil and 'strife of earth to blessed 
communion with the unseen God. Few scenes in the 
life of Christ impress themselves more distinctly on 
the mind than the one recorded as having taken place 
at this well. St. John's graphic sketch brings it before 
us so- vividly, that it becomes a reality to us almost as 
much as if we had been spectators. We love to think, 
therefore, even of the probability of the Apostle having 
rested by the same well. But though Saul was des- 
tined to be the world-famous teacher of the great doc- 
trine of spiritual worship which was so beautifully 
expounded by Jacob's Well, nevertheless, he was still a 
Pharisee, and, as such, in bondage to the Jewish law. 
The leaven of the new teaching may have been working 
in his mind, but the hard crust of his Pharisaic training 
kept it from coming to the surface. He was still a 
" Hebrew of the Hebrews/' and could not have much 
sympathy with the sublime faith, that God is the 
Father of Gentile as well as Jew, and accepts the 
homage of all who worship Him in spirit and in 
truth. 

The time taken on the journey to Damascus would 
depend on the way in which Saul and his party travelled. 
The caravans of the present day perform the journey in 
about a week, but if the Apostle and his companions 
travelled on horseback, they would do it more quickly. 
The last part of the journey lay across a flat open 
country, but wasted, dry, and barren ; for Damascus, 
though itself a paradise, lies on the borders of the 
desert. We can picture to ourselves St. Paul and his 
company leaving the hills of Palestine behind them 
and emerging on this barren plain. "A hot, burning 



56 SCENES FflOM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

sun pours its rays down upon their heads, and many a 
league has to be travelled before their eyes are glad- 
dened with cooling streams or welcome shade. At 
last, in the far distance, a dotted streak of sparkling 
white greets their vision, and circling lines, glancing 
in the sun, seem to mark the presence of a flowing 
river. It is the longed-for city — the towers and pin- 
nacles of great Damascus."* Our travellers draw 
near to the city. The desert is left behind; and, 
about midday, they have entered one of those shady 
avenues by which the city is approached, when suddenly 
there shone round about them a light from heaven. 
The Apostle was startled, and fell to the ground : pre- 
sently, he heard a voice addressing him personally, 
saying, in the Hebrew tongue, t( Saul, Saul, why 
persecutest thou me ? " And he said, " Who art 
thou, Lord ? " And the voice replied, u I am Jesus 
whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick 
against the goads." In fear and wonder the Apostle 
next asked, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" 
The answer was, " Arise, and go into the city, and it 
shall be told thee what thou must do." Saul arose 
from the earth, but, on opening his eyes, he saw no 
man, for the dazzling brilliancy of the light which had 
shone around him had made him blind. His com- 
panions, therefore, had to lead him into Damascus. 

The reality of this event has never been doubted, 
but, as was to be expected, there are several ways of 
accounting for it. It is imagined by some that the 
vision which Saul beheld was purely outward. The 

* The Footsteps of St. Paul. 



GOING TO DAMASCUS. 57 

zealous, fiery persecutor, saw his Lord in the air, was 
struck to the earth in dismay, and, by an irresistible 
power, changed in a moment into the humble disciple, 
ready to exclaim, " Lord, what wilt thou have me 
to do ? " And it must be admitted that this is the 
first impression which anyone would get on reading 
the 9th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. You 
say at once St. Paul was converted to the new faith in 
an instant by an outward miracle. But this impres- 
sion is considerably modified, when we compare this 
account with the accounts given in the Apostle's own 
words in the 22nd and 24th chapters of the Acts, and 
with the allusions he makes to it in his own Epistles. 
It may be said, also, that it is altogether out of keep- 
ing with the known character of the Apostle's mind, 
to think that he would be changed by a mere outward 
event which his Jewish prejudices would be far more 
likely to set down to an evil spirit than to God. It 
seems to us, therefore, that we cannot account for the 
conversion of Saul without supposing that the leaven 
of Christianity was working in his mind before he saw 
the vision. Some weeks, at least, had passed away, 
since he witnessed the death of Stephen. A week's 
journey from Jerusalem, part of which lay across the 
desert, had allowed time for the persecutor to contem- 
plate calmly the nature of the mission he had under- 
taken. Surely, it is not unreasonable to suppose that 
Saul may have been looking into the depths of his 
own soul, and asking himself whether the cause of the 
crucified Jesus and the martyred Stephen might not, 
after all, be the cause of God ? If so, we see a 
reason why he gave such heed to the vision, and for the 

d3 



58 scenes mmLimm m of st. paul. 

interpretation he put upoir it Ira wwwmrnftft of (ieep 
excitement men do not throw off their individuality; 
and unless we suppose that the mind of the Apostle 
had begun to waver regarding the propriety of the 
course he had entered upon, we are at a loss to account 
for the sudden change which came over him. This 
may be better understood by comparing it with a some- 
what similar event in the life of the reformer Luther. 
Luther had been to visit his parents at Mansfeldt, and 
was returning to^ Erfurt with his friend Alexis, whst* 
a thunder-storm overtook them, and a flash of lightning 
struck the reformer's friend dead at his side irt a 
moment. Luther uttered aery of fear, and vowed that if 
his life were spured^ he would turn a monk,, and devote 
himself to God and God's service. In spite of his 
father's remonstrance,, the vow thus made was kept, and 
on this sudden turning of a young man's life into a 
new course^ subsequent events of the greatest im- 
portance to the worid were suspended. That Luther 
believed this event was providential there can be no 
doubt whatever ;. but had there not been a powerful 
religious element stirring in his mind y and ready to 
give a spiritual meaning to the event which took place, 
the result might have been very different. So, too, we 
think, had. not Christian sympathies and Pharisaic tra 
ditions begun to struggle in the mind of the Apostle, 
instead of bemg impelled to cry, "Who art thou, 
Lord ?" he would, have put a construction on the vision 
less favourable to Christianity. 

Another way of explaining the scene in. which 
Saul played so important a part as he drew near to 
Damascus, is- that of supposing that there was nothing 



GOING TO DAMASCUS. 59 

miraculous in it. Those who take this view assume 
— what is necessary to an understanding of it in an j 
case if the Apostle's mind was not entirely passive- — 
that he was in a transition state. He had listened 
to the noble defence and witnessed the heroic 
martyrdom of Stephen. He had thus heard how a 
man with whom he had much in common could de- 
fend the new faith, and seen how nobly he could die 
for it. We learn also, from his own Epistles, that, 
though he was a Pharisee and trained in Pharisaic 
modes of interpreting the law, nevertheless, he in- 
wardly yearned for something higher than Judaism. 
Education and habit would naturally cause him to 
struggle against such tendencies, for he was too deeply 
imbued with the spirit of his sect to give way to such 
impulses without a struggle. He would reject the 
thought that rose in his mind in favour of the new 
doctrine as the suggestion of Satan, and keep down 
the rising conviction by becoming more zealous 
as a persecutor. But he could not succeed in thus 
crushing the spirit of truth in his soul. A con- 
flict arose within him which became all the more fierce 
as his journey to Damascus gave time for reflection. 
While in this state, an outward impression was added 
which brought the internal process to maturity. What 
the nature of that light which shone ruond him was 
it is impossible to tell, but there is no reason to as- 
sume that it was miraculous. That he regarded it as 
a special message warning him against the wickedness 
and folly of the course he was pursuing is admitted, 
but the interpretation he put upon it would, in some 



60 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

measure, depend upon the thoughts working in his 
mind. In defence of this view, it is urged that we 
must make some allowance for the discrepancies in the 
various accounts we have of the scene. Thus, in the 
9th chapter of Acts, it is said that those who were 
with him heard the voice but saw no one ; while in 
the 22nd chapter, the Apostle himself is represented 
as saying, " They that were with me saw indeed the 
light, and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of 
him that spake." And some passages in the Epistles 
seem to leave it very doubtful whether any outward 
voice sounded in the ears of Saul or not. 

But, admitting this explanation of the remarkable 
scene on the way to Damascus, how are we to explain, 
by natural causes, the meeting of Saul and Ananias ? 
" Even here," observes Neander, " we may supply 
many particulars not mentioned in the narrative. Since 
Ananias was noted among the Jews as a man of strict 
legal piety, it is not improbable that he and Saul were 
previously acquainted at Jerusalem. At all events, 
Saul had heard of the spiritual gifts said to be pos- 
sessed by Ananias, and the thought naturally arose in 
his mind that a man held in so much repute among 
the disciples might be able to heal him, and recover 
him from his present unfortunate condition ; and while 
occupied with this thought, his over-excited imagina- 
tion formed it into a vision. On the other hand, we may 
suppose that Ananias had heard something of the great 
change which had taken place in Saul, and yet might 
not give full credence to it till a vision, similar to Saul's, 
and explicable on similar principles, had overcome his 



GOING TO DAMASCUS. 61 

mistrust."* This is one mode of explaining Saul's 
vision on the road to, and subsequent state in, the city 
of Damascus. But though we have borrowed the aid 
of Neander in giving expression to it, it is only fair 
to say that the historian himself does not regard it as 
a satisfactory explanation. We have given it because 
the readers of this book are expected to think for 
themselves and inquire freely into such subjects. At 
the same time, we confess that this mode of explaining 
the narrative of the Acts seems to us very unsatisfactory. 
Whether the conversion of the Apostle was brought 
about by purely natural, or in part by supernatural, 
means, the supernatural cannot be eliminated from the 
account given in the Acts without taking unwarrantable 
liberties with the text. The question is not without 
interest, but the great fact of the Apostle's conversion 
is, after all, the vital part of the business. " There is," 
says Professor Jowett, " no fact in history more certain 
or undisputed, than that, in some way or other, by an 
inward vision or revelation of the Lord, or by an 
outward miraculous appearance as he was going to 
Damascus, the Apostle was suddenly converted from 
being a persecutor to become a preacher of the Gospel. 
If we submit the narrative of the Acts to the ordinary 
rules of evidence, we shall scarcely find ourselves able 
to determine whether any outward fact was intended 
by it or not." Thus the learned write and thus they 
differ ; for our own part, we can only say that the con- 
version of the Apostle, if separated from the martyrdom 
of Stephen, loses half its value. The weight of 

* Planting of Christianity. 



62 SCENES PROM. THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

Stephen's arguments and the noble lesson which his. 
death read, silently overcoming Saul's deepest convic- 
tions, and changing his hate into love, is a far higher 
evidence in favour of Christianity, than any light, 
shining on the way to Damascus could have been. 
Nevertheless, our interest centres in the fact itself. 
The Apostle went forth from Jerusalem, armed with 
authority from the high priest, to bring the disciples 
he might find in Damascus, whether men or women, 
back with him in chains. As he drew near to the city 
where his commission was to be executed, he was struck 
to the ground in a moment; a light shone around 
him which left him blind, and which he certainly re- 
garded as miraculous; and the voice of Jesus pleaded 
with him on behalf of the new faith. This vision,, 
whatever process may have been going on in the 
Apostle's mind, was the turning point in his career. 
The hatred burning in the bosom of Saul the perse- 
cutor against the disciples of the crucified Jesus, was 
suddenly changed into love. The wrath of the perse- 
cutor was quenched in awe — an awe which would yet 
ripen into magnanimous, unselfish devotion ; and he 
was led through stately groves of cypress and palm into 
a city beautiful as Paradise, but which had now lost 
all charm for his sightless eyes. 

It is sometimes curious to consider what great events 
lie hidden in apparently the simplest causes. Given 
a fitting soil and healthful seasons, and from a few little 
acorns you may raise a whole forest of oaks. With a 
little gunpowder and a lighted match you may lay the 
stateliest mansion in the dust in a few moments. So, 
in regard to human life, the mightiest revolutions are 



GOING TO DAMASCUS. 63 

sometimes wrapped up in what are apparently the most 
unlikely causes of them. Who could have imagined 
that the change which took place in the soul of Saul, as 
he journeyed to Damascus to execute his unholy com- 
mission, would be the means, under Divine Providence, 
of changing the current of human history, of shaking 
the throne of the Caesars, and making the name of the 
crucified Jesus more powerful than the legions of 
imperial Kome ? Yet so it was; on that conversion 
hung interests the most momentous, and the world, 
even now, is reaping the benefit of it. 



14 Lord, thou wilt surely greet 

Souls for thy service meet ! 
No bars of brass can keep thine own from thee ! 

Oh, vainly earth and hell 

Guard their grand captives well 
Against the glimpses of thy radiancy ! 

Thou streamest on their startled eyes, 
And makest them thine own by some divine surprise. 

Forth from the leaguer fell 

Wherein thy foemen dwell, 
The glorious captains of thy host thou takest ; 

The mighty souls that came 

To quench the sacred flame 
The bearers of the heavenly fire thou makest ; 

And hands that vex'd thy people most 
Do wave the greenest palms of all the martyr host. 

Thy light not vainly glow'd 

On that Damascus road ; 
Oh, not for nought that voice divine was heard ! 

The foeman was o'erthrown, 

The champion made thine own, 
When right against thee in hot haste he spurr'd ; 

Then streamed forth, the world to win, 
The mighty burning flame of love that hate had been."' 

Gill. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE CONVERT AND THE FUGITIVE. 

There is no street called Straight in the modern city 
of Damascus; but we are told by Mr. Stanley, that 
from the Southern Gate a long, wide thoroughfare runs 
right into the heart of the city, which is now called the 
*' ( Street of Bazaars/' In this street have recently been 
found the remains of the only authentic locality men- 
tioned in the history of St. Paul's stay at Damascus. 
Fragments of broken columns and pavement have been 
dug up, showing the course of the straight street, 
which in Damascus, as in all Syro-Greek or Syro- 
Boman towns, passed through the city in a straight 
line, and was adorned with Corinthian colonnades on 
each side. A few steps out of the Street of Bazaars the 
house of Judas is pointed out, where the Apostle is 
said to have lodged; it contains a square room with a 
stone floor, and one portion of the room is walled off 
for a tomb. In another quarter is shown the " house 
of Ananias/' and both these spots are held sacred by 
Mussulmans as well as Christians.* There is not 
much foundation for these traditions. It is much 
more likely that the houses of Judas and Ananias have 

* Sinai and Palestine. 



66 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

gone the way of all things earthly, and the very sites 
on which they stood been forgotten ; yet we need be 
at no loss to discover the feeling which prompts men 
to regard as sacred the places on which great events 
have taken place. The coming of Saul to Damascus 
is, in truth, one of the most remarkable events asso- 
ciated with the history of this world-famous old city ; 
but, before its importance was fully understood, the pro- 
bability is, that the places more intimately associated 
with the Apostle's visit were forgotten. The narrative 
in the Acts calls up a striking picture of Saul's entering 
Damascus before our minds, and with that we must be 
content. On rising from the earth after he had seen 
the vision, and listened to the words of Jesus, the 
Apostle was blind. He opened his eyes, but saw no 
man. Then his companions led him by the hand, and 
brought him into the city. This is the simple fact ; 
all else is uncertain. The very gate by which he was' 
led into the city is now a subject of dispute; yet how 
the mind fastens on that picture which St. Luke has 
sketched for us, in a few words, of the blind, trembling,, 
awe-struck Saul being led through the street ealled 
Straight to the house of Judas ! It was noon when the 
light shone round about him ; he was then but a short 
distance from the city, and must have entered it while 
it was yet broad day, but in a very different frame 
of mind from that in which he set out on his journey. 

In great mental conflicts the claims of the body 
are often unheeded, and Saul's first three days in. 
Damascus were passed without eating or drinking. 
We may picture to ourselves some of the strange 
thoughts which must have passed through his mind in 



THE CONVERT AND THE FUGITIVE, 67 

those three days. He would think, probably, of the 
object which had brought him to Damascus; the high 
priest's commission which he bore ; and of the great 
wrong he had been about to inflict on men and women 
who were not only innocent of any crime against so- 
ciety, but making most heroic sacrifices for truth and 
duty. He may have recalled the part he had already 
played in this unholy strife, and in doing so, the 
majestic image of the dying Stephen, praying for his 
murderers, and calling on the Lord Jesus to receive his 
spirit, would be sure to rise in his mind; but that 
event had now become invested with a sacred awe that 
no Pharisee could have thrown around it. It was to 
the Apostle a sad remembrance of the past; yet it was 
full of hope for the future, for he, too, might also be- 
come a witness for that cause which Stephen had sealed 
with his blood. Then, too, Saul's thoughts would 
probably wander back to the home of his childhood. 
What would his father and the friends of his youth say 
to this change, which had so suddenly arrested him 
in the path which they had felt so proud to see him 
treading ? Above all, how should he be able to meet 
his friend and teacher, Gamaliel, the high priest at 
Jerusalem, and the former associates of his persecuting 
zeal ? It is easy to imagine a train of thought such as 
may have passed through the mind of Saul during 
his first three days in the Syrian eapital; but where 
nothing is- known, all must be conjecture. The picture 
whioh St. Luke has left us must speak for itself. The 
Apostle was three days in the- house of Judas without 
sight, and during those three days he neither touched 
food nor drink. We know that the mental conflict 



OS SCENES UtOM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

must have been very great which could silence the 
claims of the body for so long a time, and that during 
those days Saul groped about in darkness ; but all else 
is imaginary, save that the inward conflict, whatever 
its nature may have been, ended in prayer that was 
heard. 

There was a certain disciple in Damascus called 
Ananias, and to him Jesus appeared in a dream, and 
made known Saul's helpless condition, saying, "Arise, 
and go into the street called Straight, and enquire at 
the house of Judas for one named Saul, of Tarsus : 
for behold he prayeth, and hath seen in a vision a man 
named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on 
him, that he might receive his sight/' In his dream 
the disciple made answer, " Lord, I have heard by 
many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy 
saints at Jerusalem : and that here he hath authority to 
bind all that call upon thy name." But the Lord said 
unto Ananias, "Go thy way: for Saul is unto me a 
chosen vessel to bear my name before the Gentiles, and 
kings, and the children of Israel ; and I will show him 
how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." 
Obedient to this command, Ananias went on his way, 
and entered the house of Judas, where he found the 
Apostle ; and, laying his hands upon him, he said, 
"Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared unto 
thee on the way as thou earnest, hath sent me that 
thou mightest recover thy sight, and be filled with the 
Holy Spirit." All at once there fell from the blind 
man's eyes as if it had been scales, and his sight was 
restored to him. He arose, and was baptized into that 
name he had come to persecute. He could hardly yet 



THE CONVERT AND THE FUGITIVE. 69 

have realized the change that had taken place in him, 
but inward peace was restored, and the claims of the 
body began to be felt : he received food, and was 
strengthened thereby. Then, after being some days 
with the disciples in Damascus — getting introduced, as 
it were, to his new friends — he began to teach the new 
faith in the synagogues, declaring boldly his con- 
viction that Jesus was the Son of God. This was no 
more than we should have expected from one so earnest 
and faithful to his own convictions as the Apostle 
was; yet it was a brave thing to do in the circum- 
stances in which he was placed, and, as a matter of 
course, all who heard him were astonished, asking of 
one another, u Is not this he that destroyed those who 
called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither 
with intent to bring them bound unto the chief 
priests ?" But the Apostle's course was not to be 
stayed by popular clamour or amazement. The first 
step once taken, he increased the more in strength, 
and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, 
proving that the crucified Jesus was the Christ. 

So far we have followed the narrative in the Acts, 
which, though simple and graphic, leaves many things 
unexplained on which we should have been glad to 
receive information. For example, did Saul's Phari- 
saic friends in Damascus, to whom he must have borne 
letters from Jerusalem, know of his arrival, and visit 
him in his blindness ? Was the helpless conditi&n of 
the Apostle in the house of Judas known to the dis- 
ciples, and if so, had any of them visited him before 
Ananias ? Again, we should like to know something 
more of that disciple who had the honour of baptizing 



70 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAL 1 !. 

the greatest Apostle. Was lie known to Saul an Jeru- 
salem, as some have supposed, or may he not hare 
been one of those marked out in the commission of the 
high priest as the ringleaders of the hated sect ? These, 
and w&ffly other questions of deep interest regarding 
the Apostle's conversion, and the first three days he 
spent in Damascus, we must leave unanswered. We 
may speculate on them, and different minds will be 
likely to give different answers to them, according to 
the point of view from which they look at them. But 
the great and important facts of the history stand out 
in the narrative of St. Luke with a distinctness which 
all must recognize. These are, the conversion of St. 
Paul, followed by Ms three days blindness in the house 
of Judas ; his baptism, .and^the restoration of his sight 
by Ananias ; and his boldness in preaching the new 
faith. If, however, we were to follow the narrative in 
the Acts, we might suppose that shortly after his con- 
version the Apostle returned to Jerusalem ; but it was 
not so. Writing, many years afterwards, to the Chris- 
tians of Galatia, he says, — "But when it pleased God, 
who separated me from my mother's womb, and called 
me, through bis grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I 
might preach the glad tidings of him among the Gen- 
tiles, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, 
nor did I go up to Jerusalem, to those who were 
Apostles before me ; but I went into Arabia, and re- 
turned again to Damascus. Then, after three years, I 
went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him 
fifteen days ; but I saw no other of the Apostles save 
James, the brother of the Lord." 

Of this journey into Arabia we know nothing, and 



THE CONVERT AND THE FUGITIVE. 71 

eau only vaguely guess the purpose of it from the 
Apostles words. The term Arabia is very vague, and 
the ablest commentators are not agreed as to its mean- 
ing in the passage we have quoted. It is probable, 
however, that by Arabia is here meant a district not 
far from Damascus, where the Apostle would be able, 
in comparative solitude, to consider well his future 
course. " I conferred not with flesh and blood/' he 
says ; in other words, he took council of God and his 
own thoifght. He had, on the first flush of bis con- 
version, boldly declared the change which had taken 
place in his mind. He made known, at once, to his 
countrymen in Damascus, the startling fact that he 
who had come with power to bind and imprison the 
followers of the crucified Jesus had himself become a 
convert, and was ready to set at naught the traditions 
of his race and sect, to leave friends, wealth, and 
worldly honour, at the call of that despised name, and 
take part with the poor and the persecuted disciples. 
It is almost impossible to estimate the greatness of the 
sacrifice the Apostle made on becoming a Christian, 
and we should greatly mistake his character if we 
fancied that it was made without a struggle. To a 
man so brave, so tender, so deeply attached to his 
friends as Paul was, it must have been a terrible thing 
to change and forsake all for the truth as he did. In 
solitude the greatest spiritual battles are ever fought; 
and the Apostle going into Arabia that he might confer, 
not with flesh and blood, but with the living God, 
regarding the nature of his call to preach the Gospel* 
strikingly reminds us of a greater than he being 
driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, in the agony 



72 SCENES EROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

of sore temptation, before he entered on his glorious 
mission. It has been supposed by some that St. Paul's 
health suffered from the mental anxiety attending his 
conversion, and that his motive in going into Arabia 
was to find rest and quiet to recruit himself. Others 
think that though his eyesight was restored by Ananias, 
yet his eyes never recovered from the effects of the 
light which struck him down near the walls of Damas- 
cus, and laying hold of one or two vague expressions 
in the Epistles, which seem to imply that an affection 
of the eyes was the " thorn in the flesh" which some- 
times affected his outward appearance, and hindered 
him from preaching the Gospel, those persons who 
take this view think that it may have been the first 
attack of this disease which drove him from Damascus. 
There are others again who think that the Apostle 
went into Arabia to preach the Gospel. But with his 
own statement before us that he conferred not with 
flesh and blood after he was called to be an Apostle, 
but went into Arabia, we should not be warranted in 
assuming that the object of his journey was either to 
renovate his bodily health or to preach the Gospel. 
The solitudes of Arabia must have been to St. Paul 
what the wilderness of Judsea was to his Divine Master. 
There, through deep thought, earnest prayer, and 
lonely communion with the Spirit of God, the battle 
between the new and the old faith was fought out ; 
there, too, the Apostle assures us that he gained that 
Divine strength and clear insight into the nature of his 
future work and mission which made it quite unneces- 
sary for him to receive his commission to preach the 
Gospel from Peter or any other of the regularly-called 



THE CONVERT AND THE FUGITIVE. 73 

Apostles. How long this sojourn in Arabia lasted we 
cannot say, but the Apostle returned to Damascus, and 
gave ample evidence that it had not been undertaken 
in vain, by boldly preaching the new faith in the syna- 
gogues. There were many Jews in Damascus who 
clung firmly to the faith of their forefathers. You cau 
easily imagine how angry they would be with one 
whom they would now regard as the worst of all 
apostates, since, in their eyes, he had not only for- 
saken the faith of his early years, but betrayed the 
trust reposed in him by the high priest in Jerusalem. 
We are not surprised, therefore, to hear that the Jews 
conspired to take away the Apostle's life. The reality 
of his conversion they could not call in question. His 
arguments on behalf of Christianity were those of a 
man who had carefully examined the whole subject, 
and, uttered with all the earnestness of sincere convic- 
tion, they must have had a powerful effect on every 
unprejudiced mind. The Jews, finding it impossible 
to silence their opponent by argument, entered into a 
conspiracy to take away his life. In their wicked 
design they were aided by the rulers of Damascus. 
Night and day the city gates were watched, but the 
zeal of the convert was that of a prudent man, not of 
a fanatic. He was prepared to lay down his life, if the 
cause needed it, but there was no reason why he 
should rush into the hands of his enemies, and so 
throw away a life which might yet be made of service 
to man. Aided by his friends, he made his escape 
from Damascus without passing through the city gates 
where his enemies lay in w^atch for him. Under cover 

E 



74 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL, 

of the night he was let down from the wall in a 
basket. Picture to yourselves the Apostle's return to 
Jerusalem, not in triumph to the high priest with 
many prisoners in chains, but a fugitive fleeing for his 
life, and you will have some idea of the change in his 
outward condition which his conversion had brought 
about. It was night when he made his escape from 
the city, and probably before the day dawned he was 
far beyond the never-to-be-forgotten spot where the 
heavenly light had shone around him. No record of 
his flight to Jerusalem has been preserved, but all 
danger from the Jews in Damascus would probably be 
past ere he was a day's journey from the city. But as 
he drew near to Jerusalem, many remembrances of the 
past would be sure to rush upon his mind, and remind 
him of the contrast between the persecuting Pharisee 
and the fugitive disciple. He was returning to the 
city where, in all probability, he would meet his former 
teacher and many of his school companions, and 
where, too, he might possibly be called upon to render 
an account of the way in which he had executed the 
high priest's commission. 

Imagine his thoughts as he passed the place of 
Stephen's martyrdom, or, perhaps, stood once more on 
the very spot where the witnesses had thrown down 
their clothes at his own feet. The past was gone 
beyond recall, but the future lay before the Apostle, 
and that future he was resolved should be as faithfully 
devoted to the teaching of the new faith as the past 
had been to opposing it. So, whatever his thoughts 
may have been, as the well-known scenes near Jerusa- 



THE CONVERT AND THE FUGITIVE. 75 

lem brought back the associations connected with 
them, the Apostle held on his way till he entered the 
city, and made himself known to the disciples. The 
disciples could not forget that this was the same Saul 
who had taken part in the martyrdom of Stephen, and 
became the ringleader of the persecution which fol- 
lowed; they were, not unnaturally, jealous of him 
still. True, three years had passed away since then, 
and Damascus was within a week's journey of Jeru- 
salem. It may seem strange, therefore, that no tidings 
of the change that had taken place in the Apostle had 
reached the brethren in Jerusalem ; but this may be 
accounted for by the fact that he had retired to Arabia, 
and was only intimately associated with the disciples 
in Damascus for a short time before he was obliged to 
flee from the persecution of the Jews. But Barnabas, 
one of the disciples, who had probably known Paul 
before his conversion, took him by the hand, and told 
the brethren what wonders the Lord had done by Paul 
on the way to Damascus, and how he had since borne 
witness for him even to the risk of his life. Thus, he 
was received into the church at Jerusalem, and by his 
boldness in bearing witness for the new faith, soon put 
the sincerity of his conversion beyond all doubt. 

The two pictures of the Apostle going to, and 
returning from Damascus, present a strange contrast 
to the mind, and from the contemplation of them a 
useful lesson may be learned. Chief priests, syna- 
gogues, and churches sometimes have great power. 
They have sent forth their mandates against heresy, 
and misery and woe have followed in their path. They 

E 2 



78 SCENES EROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

have caused truth, liberty, and the most sacred of 
human affections to be trampled in the dust. But 
truth is mighty, and cannot be put down by such 
means. God is on high, and his justice over all. The 
martyr dies, but from his grave spring forth a hun- 
dred heroes filled with his spirit, and ready to accept 
his cause as a legacy dearer than life. 



CHAPTER VII. 



FIFTEEN DAYS WITH ST. PLTER. 



" Then to side with Truth is noble when we share her wretched 
crust, 
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and 'tis prosperous to be just: 
Then it is, the brave man chooses ; while the coward stands aside, 
Doubting in his abject spirit, till his Lord is crucified, 
And the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied." 

Lowell. 



" Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained 
you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit 
should remain." — St. John xv. 16. 



CHAPTER VII. 

FIFTEEN DAYS WITH PETER. 

In his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle says that 
the object of his first visit to Jerusalem after his 
conversion, was to see Peter. "Then, after three 
years," he says, " I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, 
and abode with him fifteen days." What the nature of 
his intercourse with Peter may have been we can only 
imagine ; yet we need be at no loss to account for the 
desire on Paul's part to see and hold converse with 
Peter. It was natural that the convert should wish to 
hear from the lips of one who had been an eye-witness 
from the first, a more minute account of the wonder- 
ful life and sayings of Jesus than he had yet been 
able to obtain. We are probably not far wrong in 
picturing to ourselves the two Apostles visiting together 
the places in and around Jerusalem associated with 
the most memorable events of Christ's last visit to the 
holy city, or talking earnestly of him whose every 
word would now be treasured in their hearts as of 
priceless worth. It is probable that a written collec- 
tion of the sayings of Jesus had already been made. 
None of our present Gospels were then in existence, it 
is true, but St. Luke tells us that many had taken in 



80 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

hand to set forth the things most surely believed 
among the disciples before he did, and it is highly 
probable that some written memorial of Christ's 
ministry had already been made when Paul went to 
Jerusalem to see Peter. The Apostle who was des- 
tined to play so important a part in the promulgation 
of Christianity, would naturally desire to possess some 
record of Christ's life ; and, if none existed, may he 
not have compiled one for his own use from the recol- 
lections of Peter ? One who was so earnest a disciple 
-would surely lose no opportunity of becoming ac- 
quainted with the words of their Master. It is 
objected to this, that St. Paul never, in any of his 
Epistles, quotes from the parables or discourses of 
Jesus; and some from this would infer that the 
Apostle was indifferent about such matters. We see 
no reason at all for such an inference. On one occa- 
sion, at least, the Apostle refers to a most important 
event in Christ's life, and in such a way as to imply 
that his readers were familiar with the last scenes in 
the life of Christ. Writing to the Corinthians, St. 
Paul describes the Last Supper almost in the words 
of St. Luke's Gospel, and it is hardly possible to 
believe that this was the only event in Christ's life 
that the Apostle ever alluded to in the course of his 
teaching.* 

But whatever St. Paul may have learned, during his 
fifteen days' stay with St. Peter in Jerusalem of the 
life and teachings of Jesus, we know that he was not 
at all disposed to submit unhesitatingly to St. Peter's 
interpretation of Christ's teachings. Prom the first, 
* 1 Cor. xi. 23. 



FIFTEEN DAYS WITH PETER. 81 

the great Apostle of the Gentiles pursued an inde- 
pendent course, and he has himself said that his 
various interviews with the other Apostles were of 
very little use to him in deepening his inward convic- 
tion of the truth of the Gospel. 

Back once more in Jerusalem, the Apostle was not 
slow in hearing his testimony in favour of that cause 
he had formerly persecuted. He naturally imagined 
that the Jews would hear his voice, and he favourably 
impressed by the wonderful story of his conversion. 
In the first glow of young enthusiasm, the mind is 
apt to overlook the obstacles which lie between it and 
the work it would achieve. In the warmth and earnest- 
ness of his own convictions, the prophet sometimes 
makes a false estimate of the forces against which he 
would do battle. So the Apostle, relying on the truth 
of his testimony, naturally thought that what he had 
to say would be all the more favourably received by 
the Jews because of his former prejudices. Hence we 
are informed that he went boldly into the Grecian 
synagogues and preached Jesus ; thus, virtually taking 
up the very work which had brought martyrdom on 
Stephen, he became the successor of Stephen. But 
the prejudices and passions of the Jews were too strong 
and too warm to permit them to listen calmly to St. 
Paul's account of his conversion and to his vindication 
of the new faith. His opponents were unable to cope 
with him in argument, yet afraid of the influence of 
his example : hence we are not surprised to hear that 
the Jews in Jerusalem, as at Damascus, entered into a 
conspiracy to kill him, but once more he was saved by 
the zeal and care of the brethren. When the disciples 

E 3 



82 SCENES MOM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

heard of the conspiracy to slay Paul, they at once 
urged him to leave Jerusalem ; and, accompanied by a 
few friends, he went down to Csesarea, and from thence 
sailed for Tarsus. 

For many reasons Jerusalem would not be the best 
place for Paul's first labours. His recent connection 
with the sect of the Pharisees and the relation in 
■which he stood to many of the leading Jews, though, 
at first sight, they might seem in his favour, were, 
nevertheless, the greatest barriers that could have been 
raised in his path. The Pharisees would be in no 
mood to hear him calmly, while they would be sure to 
dread his influence, and the mass of the people would 
not be very ready to believe in the sincerity of a con- 
vert who had so recently been breathing out fire and 
slaughter against the disciples. This was not what 
the Apostle had expected on coming to Jerusalem. 
Strong in the sincerity of a good purpose, he had 
hoped that many of his former associates would lend 
a favourable ear to his testimony, but it was not so. 
The Jews in Jerusalem were not prepared to hear him. 
Oppressed with this conviction which his experience 
was forcing upon him, the Apostle went into the 
temple to pray. While there he fell into a trance, and 
had a vision, which he thus describes. "It came to 
pass, that, when I was come to Jerusalem, even while 
I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance ; and I saw 
the Lord, who said unto me, Make haste, and get thee 
quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy 
testimony concerning me. And I said, Lord, they 
know that I imprisoned and beat in every syna- 
gogue those that believed on thee. And when the 



FIFTEEN DAYS WITH PETER. 83 

blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I was 
standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept 
the raiment of those that slew him." Doubtless Paul 
thought that these facts would establish beyond doubt 
the reality and sincerity of his conversion, and give his 
testimony in favour of the new faith an overpowering 
weight in the minds of many, but practically it was 
not so : hence in his trance the command to depart was 
repeated with stronger emphasis. ''And the Lord 
said unto me," he goes on to say, " Depart, for I will 
send thee far hence unto the Gentiles/' * 

What the nature of that trance, or ecstacy, was we 
cannot say ; but the form which the vision assumed was 
doubtless, in some measure, affected by the Apostle's 
experience in Jerusalem. He knew the danger of 
living in the Jewish capital, where the prejudices and 
passions of his former friends were maddened by his 
manly advocacy of the new faith, but he fancied that it 
was possible to live down those prejudices, and prove, by 
a life of devoted faithfulness to duty, the reality of his 
conversion. He was reluctant, therefore, to leave the 
post of duty merely because it was one of danger. He 
and St. Peter had probably talked the matter over before 
the vision in the temple threw light on the course he 
ought to follow ; for, from his staying in the house of 
Peter, the two apostles would have ample opportunity 
of discussing their future plans. At all events, the 
bent of St. Paul's mind may be discovered by the 
answer he made to the first command to depart from 
Jerusalem which he received in his trance, and his view 
of the case was most natural under the circumstances. 

* Acts xxii. 21. 



84 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

But Jerusalem was not to be the scene of his labours. A 
work was gradually being shaped out for him elsewhere ; 
but, as yet, the fitting time had not arrived for him to 
enter upon it. So, obedient to the command he had 
received in his trance, he consented to the earnest en- 
treaties of the brethren, that he would seek some place 
of greater safety than Jerusalem. He fixed on Tarsus, 
his native city. But, as we have already seen, his new 
friends did not permit him to leave Jerusalem alone. 
A select few went with him to Csesarea, by the sea, and 
saw him safe on board a ship bound for Tarsus, or 
some port in that direction. Whether St. Peter was 
among those who accompanied the Apostle to Csesarea 
we have no means of knowing, but there is a kindliness 
of feeling suggested by the simple fact that his friends 
did not leave him till they saw him embark in peace 
for his native home, which argues well for the relation- 
ship which fifteen days' intercourse had established 
between them. 

The Apostle remained some years in Cilicia, but we 
have no record of how that time was spent. He may 
have been engaged in active missionary work, as most 
writers on this subject suppose, and, if so, he was pro- 
bably instrumental in founding the churches of 
Cilicia mentioned, with those of Antioch and Syria, 
in the Acts.* Be that as it may, he was once more 
in the home of his childhood, and under very different 
circumstances from any under which he had ever been 
there before. He was no longer a Pharisee, groaning 
under the intolerable burden of the law, but a free 
man in Christ Jesus. It would be interesting to know 

* Acts xv. 41. 



FIFTEEN DAYS WITH PETER. 85 

whether his father were still alive, and, if so, how he 
regarded the change which had taken place in his son. 
The sacred narrative does not linger on mere personal 
details, and the Apostle himself has given us no hint, 
in any of his letters, from which our curiosity on this 
head can be satisfied. This only is certain, that Paul 
did return and spend some years in his early Tarsus 
home after his conversion, and before his active career 
as the missionary to the Gentiles began. This is the 
last time we read of his being there, for though it is 
probable that he passed through Tarsus on his second 
missionary journey, we are not told that he did so, 
and, if he did, his stay must have been very brief. 
What his relations with his own family may have been, 
in this his last abode under the paternal roof, we have 
no means of knowing, but, as we read of his sister and 
sister's son belonging to the new faith, we may readily 
believe that Paul's testimony was not without weight 
even among his own kindred. Here, at least, his 
sincerity and unselfish devotion would not be doubted, 
though they might be misunderstood. 

The next scene from the Apostle's life to which we 
shall introduce our readers will show us the beginning 
of those marvellous missionary labours which have 
been the wonder of all succeeding generations. Before 
we come to it, however, it may be as well to pause, 
that we may review the ground over which we have 
travelled, and obtain such a knowledge of contemporary 
events as will enable us to understand more readily 
what follows. Accordingly, we shall conclude the 
present chapter with a few thoughts on the nature and 
reality of the Apostle's conversion, and in the next try 



86 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

if we can help our readers to understand the nature 
of the mission which the course of Divine Providence 
was opening out for the new religion. 

We have seen how Saul of Tarsus came to Jeru- 
salem, and took part in the persecution of the dis- 
ciples; and we must not forget what he was, if we 
would understand what he became. A Jew, educated 
in accordance with the rules of the strictest of Jewish 
sects, learned above his equals in all that pertained 
to the law, and zealous to uphold in its integrity the 
faith of his forefathers, Saul, the Pharisee, must have 
regarded the followers of Jesus, and especially those 
who belonged to the party of Stephen, with mingled 
indignation and disgust. With that moral and intel- 
lectual blindness to which theological hatred usually 
gives birth, he entered into the persecution of the 
disciples, determined, since Christianity could not be 
put down by argument, to crush it by force. The 
persecution, so far from bringing about the desired 
end, only made wider the breach between the law and 
the Gospel, and helped to scatter the seeds of the new 
faith far and wide. The zeal of Saul was not satisfied 
with persecuting the disciples in Jerusalem : it carried 
him into strange cities. On his way to Damascus, 
with a commission from the high priest to bring any 
of that way of thinking he could find, whether men or 
women, bound to Jerusalem, a miraculous light shone 
around him, and, by a revelation of the Lord, the fiery 
persecutor was changed into the humble disciple. We 
have already laid before our readers several modes of 
regarding that fact, showing that learned men look at it 
in different ways, and we need not here repeat what has 



FIFTEEN DAYS WITH PETER. 87 

been already said. Whatever the nature of the miracle 
itself may have been, the Apostle's conversion cannot, 
in our opinion at least, be wholly disconnected from 
the death of Stephen. Strong as Saul's Pharisaic 
prejudices were, he could hardly have beheld unmoved 
the sublime examples of heroism and devotion which 
he was compelled to witness among the persecuted 
disciples, while struggling to crush those better feelings 
of sympathy for the oppressed, of which, in spite of 
himself, he was beginning to be conscious when he 
undertook his journey to Damascus. Eemoved from 
the scenes of strife in which he had so recently been a 
chief actor, his excitement cooled down, and reason 
began to assert its claim to be heard. Thus, he was 
gradually prepared for the outward event, and the 
inward revelation of the Lord, which proclaimed the 
foolishness of the course he w T as pursuing. This mode 
of accounting for the Apostle's conversion is not in the 
least inconsistent with the narrative of St. Luke ; it is 
indirectly supported by allusions to it in the Apostle's 
own epistles, and is in perfect harmony with the known 
laws of the human mind. Nevertheless, many people 
seem to fancy that the Apostle's change of mind was 
produced entirely by the miracle of which he wa's the 
subject, while his own mental and moral powers were 
as passive as the wires of the telegraph in the hands of 
the operator. Remembering the injurious impression 
which this notion made on our own mind in early life, 
we have been all the more anxious to show that it is 
not the only possible mode of regarding the event. 
Some persons, again, have called the Apostle a mere 
fanatic, who passed from one passion to another, like 



88 SCENES EROM THE LIEE OE ST. PAUL. 

those restless souls who cannot keep in the middle 
way, but must ever be at one extreme or other ; while 
some have not scrupled to denounce him as an im- 
postor. These charges would not be worth notice 
here, were it not that they show the necessity of taking 
a reasonable view of this question. The following 
passage, taken from the joint work of two of the ablest 
writers on the " Life and Epistles of St. Paul," we 
commend to the careful attention of our readers, 
because it brings very clearly before the mind much 
that was involved in the Apostle's conversion : — 

" It will never be possible for any one to believe 
St. Paul to have been a mere fanatic, who only con- 
siders his calmness, his wisdom, his prudence, and, 
above all, his humility — a virtue which is not less 
inconsistent with fanaticism than with imposture. And 
how can we suppose that he was an impostor who 
changed his religion for selfish purposes ? Was he 
influenced by the ostentation of learning ? He sud- 
denly cast aside all that he had been taught by 
Gamaliel, or acquired through long years of study, 
and took up the opinions of fishermen of Galilee, 
whom he had scarcely ever seen, and who had never 
been educated in the schools. Was it the love of 
power which prompted the change ? He abdicated in 
a moment the authority he possessed, for power over a 
flock of sheep driven to the slaughter, whose shepherd 
himself had been murdered a little while before ; and 
all he could hope from that power was, to be marked 
out in a particular manner for the same knife which 
he had seen so bloodily drawn against them. Was it 
the love of wealth ? Whatever might have been his 



FIFTEEN DAYS WITH PETER. 89 

worldly possessions at the time, he joined himself to 
those who were certainly poor, arid the prospect before 
him was that which was actually realized, of minis- 
tering to his own necessities with the labour of his 
own hands. Was it the love of fame ? His prophetic 
power must have been miraculous, if he could look 
beyond the shame and scorn which then rested on the 
servants of a crucified Master to that glory with which 
Christendom now surrounds the memory of St. Paul." 
This passage will help our readers to picture in 
their own minds the altered circumstances amidst which 
the Apostle, after his conversion, sought the shelter 
of his home in Tarsus. He was no longer a Pharisee, 
his worldly dreams, whatever they may have been, 
were all dashed to the ground. He has taken up his 
cross, and already begun to tread in the footsteps of 
him who said, " In the world ye shall have tribula- 
tion, but be of good cheer : I have overcome the 
world." But though Paul has left all to follow Jesus, 
he has not thrown down his mental freedom at the 
feet of Peter and James. His was the true Protestant 
spirit. He was called to be an Apostle, but when he 
received the call he conferred not with flesh and blood, 
but went into Arabia. He spent fifteen days with 
Peter in Jerusalem, but those fifteen days witnessed no 
change in the conception of Christianity he had already 
formed, while they materially strengthened his convic- 
tion that he was destined to be an Apostle to the 
Gentiles. Already his zeal on behalf of the new faith 
had twice imperilled his life. Thus, the reality of 
his conversion, his mental independence, and the great 



90 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

moral force of his character, were established beyond 
doubt, though his Jewish friends might be sadly 
shocked thereby. We must leave the Apostle in Tar- 
sus, while we glance briefly at what was taking place 
elsewhere, in order that we may understand the mission 
of the new religion, and see more clearly the nature 
of the work which Providence was preparing for St. 
Paul. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THE MISSION OF THE NEW BEUGION. 



' Behold tlie sun, how "bright 
From yonder east he springs, 
As if the soul of life and light 
Were "breathing from his wings. 

So bright the gospel broke 
Upon the souls of men; 
So fresh the dreaming world awoke 
; In truth's full radiance then. 

Before yon sun arose, 

Stars cluster' d in the sky; 
But, oh, how dim, how pale were those, 

To his one burning eye ! 

So truth lent many a ray, 

To bless the Pagan's night : 
But, Lord, how faint, how cold were they, 

To thy one glorious light!" 

Mooke. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

THE MISSION OF THE NEW RELIGION. 

In the ninth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, at 
the 31st verse, we read : " Then had the churches rest 
throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and 
, were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and 
in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied. 5 ' 
This statement coming immediately after the account 
of Paul's departure for Tarsus, and no reason being 
given why the churches had rest, the superficial reader 
of the New Testament is apt to imagine that there was 
some special connection between the two events. But 
a little reflection will soon be enough to convince him 
that it could not be so. The Apostle himself was 
fleeing from a conspiracy which the enemies of the new 
faith had entered into against him. It was not likely, 
therefore, that the hatred of the Pharisees would cease 
simply because St. Paul had left Jerusalem. We 
must look elsewhere in order to find out the reason 
why the churches had rest, and fortunately we are able 
to find a very satisfactory one indeed. 

At this time Caligula was Emperor of Rome, and 
we are told that the " four years during which he sat 
on the throne of the world were miserable for all the 



94 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

provinces, both in the east and the west." The history 
of the cruelties perpetrated by this monster, fortunately 
does not come within the range of our subject. The 
troubles which he brought upon the Jews were suffi- 
cient to draw away their attention from the disciples. 
As part of a plan for extending the worship of himself 
throughout the empire, Caligula issued orders to place 
his statue in the temple at Jerusalem, in order that the 
Jews might fall down before it and pay him divine 
homage. A universal feeling of horror pervaded the 
entire nation. The people remonstrated and petitioned, 
but all in vain, for though the dreaded day was post- 
poned by such proceedings, yet the purpose of the 
emperor remained the same. At last, when everything 
seemed hopeless, the murder of Caligula gave a sudden 
relief to the persecuted people. This event took place 
on the 24th of January, in the year 41. It was during 
these troubles, in which the entire Jewish people were 
concerned, that the churches had rest. The blas- 
phemous propositions of Caligula caused a temporary 
diversion in favour of the disciples, but the peace en- 
joyed by the Christians must be set down to the fears 
of the Jews for their own religious independence, rather 
than to any kindlier mode of regarding the new faith. 
With the death of the emperor, this rest was rudely 
disturbed. Herod Agrippa, under the emperor Clau- 
dius, was made King of Judaea, and, wishing to gain 
favour with the Jews, he " stretched forth his hand 
to vex certain of the church." He slew James, the 
brother of John, and imprisoned Peter. But Herod 
was not long spared to foster the narrowest Jewish 
prejudices, and seek popularity among his subjects in 



THE MYSTERIES OE THE NEW RELIGION. 95 

this way. He died in the year 44. The account of 
his miserable end may be read in the 12th chapter of 
Acts; and St. Luke's description of his death is borne 
out by that of the Jewish historian Josephus. 

Now, according to St. Luke, this rest enjoyed by 
the churches was immediately after the flight of St. 
Paul to Tarsus ; hence we can, with tolerable certainty, 
fix the date of that event at a period prior to the death 
of Caligula. About the same time, it would appear, 
the Apostle Peter took that memorable journey to 
Joppa. There he had a vision of clean and unclean 
beasts, which led to the baptism of Cornelius, the 
Roman centurion, and taught St. Peter to know that 
" God is no respecter of persons, but accepteth all of 
every nation who fear Him and work righteousness/' 
Id order to understand this, our readers must bear in 
mind that, as yet, even the Apostles had not risen to 
the true perception of the spirituality and universality 
of Christ's kingdom. The society of disciples in 
Jerusalem was, at that time, little more than a Jewish 
sect; certainly not a Christian Church in our sense of 
the word. The new religion, as yet, had only been 
preached by Jews and to Jews, and if the conversion 
of the Gentiles on a large scale had been deemed a 
possibility, it had never entered into the head of Peter 
or James that that conversion could take place in any 
way save through the door of Judaism. It is clear that 
St. Paul, from the time of his conversion, was filled 
with the idea that his mission was to be mainly to the 
Gentiles. We cannot say whether he saw distinctly, 
from the first, that Christianity was destined to break 
down the partition wail between Jews and Gentiles, or 



96 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

whether this truth was borne in upon him by subse- 
quent revelation or experience ; but we know that from 
the time of his conversion the idea of a mission to the 
Gentiles was present to his mind. 

At first sight, it appears strange that those disciples 
who had been the personal followers of Jesus when 
he lived on the earth, should be the last to recognize 
that his religion was destined to break through the 
boundary lines of Judaism, and proclaim the love of 
the Heavenly Father for all his human children. 
Nevertheless, such was the case. In the Gospel there 
are many indications of the fact that, during the life of 
their divine Master, even the Twelve never abandoned 
the notion that he would suddenly put forth his 
power, and establish a visible kingdom of Israel. So 
completely had this notion taken possession of their 
minds, that the last days of Christ's life were em- 
bittered by a dispute among his disciples, as to who 
should be greatest in his kingdom. This is easily 
explained by the fact, that the Twelve had been so 
trained, in early life, to expect the establishment of a 
national kingdom as the result of the Messiah's advent, 
that it was almost impossible for them to grasp their 
Master's thought of a kingdom of Heaven within the 
soul which cometh not with observation. There can 
be no doubt, however, that, whether understood by the 
first disciples or not, the germ of the Gospel's univer- 
sality is to be found in the parables and discourses of 
Christ. He who taught that the pure in heart see 
God ; that the essence of all religion lies in the love of 
God and the love of man ; and, that the true worshipper 
worships the heavenly Father, who is a Spirit, in 



THE MYSTERIES OF THE NEW RELIGION. 97 

spirit and in truth — proclaimed a religion which was not 
circumscribed by boundary lines or geographical dis- 
tinctions, but wide as the earth and skies, and universal 
as the love of God. Many indications of this fact 
might be brought forward from the teachings of Jesus. 
The charges brought against him by the Scribes and 
Pharisees were not without foundation. The tendency 
of Christ's doctrines was, undoubtedly, to destroy the 
temple and temple services of the Jews, but only to 
leave, in their stead, a more spiritual worship. His 
enemies were the first to see the results to which his 
doctrines led. They felt instinctively, as it were, that 
a religion which made purity of heart and holiness of 
life more essential than the acceptance of a traditional 
creed, or the observance of temple ceremonies, could 
not but prove fatal to their system of religion. But it 
was the Scribes and the Pharisees, rather than the dis- 
ciples, who seem first to have recognized this tendency 
in the teachings of Jesus. After the disciples had 
formed themselves into a distinct society, they still 
refused to recognize any hostility between the Law and 
the Gospel; and it was not until the party of whom 
Stephen was the representative began to assume some 
importance, that the fears and the hatred of the Pha- 
risees were again aroused. This is a suggestive fact, 
and proves to us that it was not the Apostles and those 
who had been personally followers of Christ when he 
lived on the earth, who first recognized the spirituality 
and universality of the new religion. Thus, the course 
of events, both within and without the Church, was 
gradually developing the spirit of hostility between the 
new faith and the old. 



98 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

If we are right in following the order of the Acts 
of the Apostles, it was after St. Paul and St. Peter 
had spent 15 days together in Jerusalem that the 
latter had his remarkable vision at Joppa, which led to 
the baptism of Cornelius and the admission of the 
first Gentile into the Church. We see no reason why 
this order should be disturbed. There is a natural 
connection between the two events, whereby the one 
seems to lead to the other. We cannot suppose it 
possible that the two Apostles would spend 15 days 
together without discussing the question of a mission 
to the Gentiles, and more especially so, seeing that it 
had been revealed to St. Paul so clearly that he had 
been called with special reference to that work. We 
know, from his letter to the Galatians, that St. Paul 
derived no deeper insight into the new religion, or 
into the work w T hich lay before himself, from his inter- 
course with St. Peter. But may he not, from the fact 
that he took up the new religion from a more spiritual 
point of view, have helped to open Peter's mind to 
the spirituality of Christ's teachings, and so prepared 
the way for what took place at Joppa and at Caesarea ? 
Be that as it may, there is no doubt that events were 
beginning to point to a wider development of Chris- 
tian truth than the Church at Jerusalem had yet 
dreamed of. " Nothing is more remarkable/' says a dis- 
tinguished historian, " than to see the horizon of the 
Apostles gradually receding, and instead of resting on 
the borders of the Holy Land, comprehending, at 
length, the whole world ; barrier after barrier falling 
down before the superior wisdom which was infused 
into their minds. First, the proselytes of the gate, the. 



THE MYSTERIES OF THE NEW RELIGION. 99 

foreign conformists to Judaism, and, ere long, the 
Gentiles themselves, admitted within the pale, until 
Christianity stood forth, demanded the homage, and 
promised its rewards to the faith of the whole race ; 
proclaimed itself, in language which the world had as 
yet never heard, the one, true, and universal religion/' 

But we should greatly mistake the history of the 
Apostolic Age if we supposed that this wonderful ex- 
pansion of the new faith took place without a severe 
struggle in the Church itself. People sometimes talk 
vaguely of the harmony which prevailed in the infant 
Church, but certainly the Acts of the Apostles and 
the Epistles of St. Paul describe a struggle which 
must oftentimes have been very bitter indeed. St. Paul 
called from the first to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, 
became the leader of the more spiritual party, and 
it was mainly through his instrumentality, humanly 
speaking, that the religion of Jesus of Nazareth burst 
through its Jewish iuteguments and made its appeal 
to humanity. Some knowledge of that strife, there- 
fore, is necessary to understand the Apostle's place and 
work in the early Church. 

When St. Peter returned from Ctesarea he found 
that news of what had taken place there had preceded 
him. Some of the disciples were indignant at him, 
because he had eaten bread with a Gentile. But the 
Apostle rehearsed the whole matter to the Church from 
the beginning. The disciples were astonished at what, 
had taken place, but they could neither gainsay the 
Apostle's word nor deny the divine call on which he 
had acted. So they complained no more, but glorified 
God, saying, " Thus hath God also to the Gentiles 

f 2 



100 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

granted repentance unto life." Thus everything con- 
nected with the history of Christianity was pointing to 
the time when the Gentiles were to be admitted to the 
Church without first being made to pass through all 
the mysteries of Judaism. But this time was brought 
nearer still by events going forward elsewhere. 

We have seen that the persecution in which Stephen 
was put to death resulted in a general dispersion 
of the disciples. It is rather singular that the 
Apostles do not seem to have suffered during this 
persecution. From this we are led to believe that 
the rage of the Pharisees was directed mainly against 
Stephen and his party. Stephen spoke of a God who 
dwelt not in temples made with human hands, but was 
>a Spirit to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. In 
his teachings, therefore, Christianity first began to 
assume an attitude hostile to Judaism. It has been 
supposed by some that the persecution to which this 
teaching gave birth was confined to Stephen and 
his friends, leaving the narrower Jewish party unmo- 
lested. Whether it were so or not, the persecution 
drove large numbers of the disciples from Jerusalem, 
the majority of whom belonged to the party of the 
Grecians. Wherever they went they carried their 
principles with them, and being ever ready to bear 
witness for them, far distant cities became new centres 
of Christian thought and life. This dispersion ex- 
tended along the Phoenician coast as far as Antioch, 
and to the island of Cyprus. At first the scattered 
disciples spoke only to their own countrymen, the 
Jews; but at length some, who were natives of Cyprus 
and Cyrene, went to Antioch and spoke to the Greeks. 



THE MYSTERIES OF THE NEW RELIGION. 101 

The Greeks heard them with increasing interest, and 
many believed. Thus, for the first time in the history 
of Christianity, the Gentiles were invited to hear the 
Word, and the result seems to have been something- 
astonishing. St. Luke tells us that " a great number 
believed and turned unto the Lord." The news of so 
unlooked-for an event soon reached Jerusalem, but the 
Church there did not know what to make of it. The 
disciples in Jerusalem had recently listened to St, 
Peter's account of the conversion and baptism of 
Cornelius, but they were slow to believe that the 
Gentiles generally could be admitted to the fold of 
Christ. The Church at Jerusalem, therefore, sent 
Barnabas in haste to Antioch, in order that he might see 
what was going forward, and advise with the brethren 
there as to what was to be done in this new emergency. 
This is the Barnabas who had taken St. Paul by 
the hand when he returned from Damascus, and intro- 
duced him to the disciples. It has been supposed by 
some that Barnabas and Paul were fellow-pupils at the 
school of Gamaliel, and were therefore well known to 
each other before either of them was converted. There 
is no certainty in this, for it is only supported by a 
vague tradition. But from St. Luke we learn that 
Barnabas was a Levite of the country of Cyprus, who, 
having land at the time of his conversion, sold it and 
brought the money and laid it at the Apostles' feet. 
That he was an educated man and belonged to the 
party of the Grecians, is pretty certain. He was, 
therefore, very well qualified for the mission he under- 
took, at the request of the brethren in Jerusalem, to 
Antioch. A mere Jew might have been shocked at 
the movement going on there, and had he been so, he 



102 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OY ST. PAUL. 

would have returned to Jerusalem to recommend that 
the disciples in Antioch should he admonished for the 
scandal they were bringing on the cause by encou- 
raging spiritual fellowship with the Gentiles. But 
Barnabas was prepared, by a liberal culture, to com- 
prehend the real importance of this new movement. 
Accordingly, we are not surprised to learn that he was 
delighted with what he saw and heard. He felt, pro- 
bably, that the hour was come for which he had so 
often yearned, when the barrier between Jew and Gen- 
tile was to give way, and the religion of the Lord 
Jesus was to go forth unfettered on its world-wide 
mission. 

The hour was indeed come, and the man was in readi- 
ness for it. Barnabas felt that it was too great a responsi- 
bility for him to assume to be the representative of this 
new phase of Christianity. He remembered how Paul 
had regarded himself, from the first, as destined to be 
the teacher of the Gentiles, and perhaps even knew, at 
that very time, that the Apostle was busy sowing the 
good seed in his own ~ ative province of Cilicia. Tarsus 
was not far distant from Antioch. Barnabas resolved 
to do what was very natural under the circumstances, 
to go thither himself and fetch Paul. Some years had 
passed away since Paul had been introduced to the 
disciples at Jerusalem by his friend Barnabas. In 
those years great changes had taken place. The new 
religion had gradually been extended and developed, 
till, now, it had broken down the partition-wall between 
Jew and Gentile, and stood face to face with Paganism. 
Antioch will now occupy an important place in the 
history of Christianity. It will, in fact, be to the 
Gentile Churches what Jerusalem was to the Jewish 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE CALL 10 ANTIOCH. 



' Forth went tlie heralds of the Cross, 

No dangers made them pause ; 

They counted all the world but loss, 

For their great Master's cause. 

Through looks of fire and words of scorn, 

Serene their path they trod ; 
And to the dreary dungeon borne, 

Sang praises unto Grod. 

Friends dropp'd the hand they clasp' d before ; 

Love changed to cruel hate ; 
And home to them was home no more, 

Yet mourn' d they not their fate. 

In all his dark and dread array, 

Death rose upon their sight ; 
But calmly still they kept their way, 

And shrank not from the fight. 

They knew to whom their trust was given, 

They could not doubt his word ; 
Before them beam'd the light of heaven, 

The presence of their Lord." 

Gaseeli 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CAXI TO ANTIOCH. 

If the greatest event in the life of St. Paul was his 
journey to Damascus, without doubt the next in im 
portance was when Barnabas went over to Tarsus, and 
said, " Coroe to Antioch and help us." The Apostle 
at once recognized, in the message brought by Bar- 
nabas, a call from God. He felt that the time had 
come when he too must leave home and friends and 
kindred, and spend and be spent for the cause of the 
crucified Jesus. How the Apostle had spent the years 
which passed between his vision in the temple at 
Jerusalem and the time when Barnabas went to Tarsus 
to fetch him, we cannot say. But however they had 
been spent, time had not softened down the earnestness 
of his conviction that Jesus was the true Messiah ; 
while further reflection had only tended to confirm his 
belief that the new religion was destined to sweep away 
all distinctions between Jew 7 and Gentile, and set men 
free from the tyranny of the Law. 

The Apostle was not long in getting ready for his 
journey; and, bidding farewell to his Tarsus friends, he 
departed, in company with Barnabas, for Antioch. 
From this time his whole strength and energy were 

f3 



106 SCENES EROM THE LIEE OF ST. PAUL. 

devoted to the work of spreading the Gospel. In 
Antioch, Paul and Barnabas remained a whole year, 
teaching and confirming in the faith those who had 
joined the meetings of the disciples. But the work 
had now assumed altogether a new shape. At Antioch, 
for the first time, Gentiles freely mingled with the 
disciples. By-and-by they were baptized in the name 
of Jesus and admitted to all the privileges of the Jewish 
converts. Clearly, therefore, the disciples could no 
longer be described as a mere Jewish sect. Hitherto 
they had been, both by Jews and Gentiles, regarded as 
such. And so long as they excluded the Gentiles by 
making the observance of the Jewish ceremonial Law 
a condition of fellowship, it was natural they should 
be looked on as one of the many Jewish sects then 
in existence. But when those conditions were no 
longer insisted on, and vast numbers of Gentiles were 
added to the Church, a new state of things arose and 
demanded a new name. Accordingly, we read in the 
Acts of the Apostles, that, " the disciples were first 
called Christians in Antioch." That this name was 
fixed upon them as a term of reproach, there can be no 
doubt. The inhabitants of Antioch were celebrated 
for giving nicknames, and they invented the name 
Christian, which, though worn at first as a brand of 
reproach, was destined to become honourable, because 
it represented a great and glorious cause. The name 
was not badly chosen, and must have been given to 
the disciples by the Gentiles rather than the Jews, for 
the Jews would not have bestowed on a hated sect a 
name which they honoured so much. ic The word 
Christ has the same meaning as Messiah. And the 



THE CALL TO ANl'IOCH. 107 

Jews, however blinded with prejudice on this subject, 
would never have used so sacred a word to point an 
expression of mockery and derision ; and they could 
not have used it in grave and serious earnest to those 
whom they held to be the followers of a false Messiah. 
Nor is it likely that the Christians gave this name to 
themselves. In the Adis of the Apostles and their 
own letters we find them designating themselves as 
' brethren/ ' disciples/ ' believers/ and ' saints.' Only 
in two places in the New Testament do we find the term 
Christian, and in both instances it is implied to be a 
term used by those who are without/'* There can be 
little doubt, therefore, that the name was first given 
by the Geutiles, and as a term of reproach ; but 
the "name represented great ideas, and soon became a 
power in the world such as its inventors little dreamed 
of. 

The first assembly of Christians, so-called, met in 
Antioch about the year 44, and to that assembly we are 
far more closely related than to the Church at Jeru- 
salem. In Jerusalem the term Nazarene was applied 
to the disciples, and as yet none but the Jews had 
been " admitted to " the Jerusalem Church. But as 
Jerusalem w r as the centre of the churches of Pales- 
tine, so Antioch became the centre of the Gentile 
churches. It became to Paul and Barnabas what the 
capital of Judaea was to the Twelve. The position 
which the city of Antioch held at that time made it 
extremely well suited for this purpose. The city itself 
was a place of concourse for all classes and kinds of 
people. " By its harbour of Seleucia it was in com- 

* Conv'oeare and.HowsoR. 



108 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

munication "with all the trade of the Mediterranean ; 
and, through the open country behind the Lebanon, it 
was conveniently approached by the caravans from 
Mesopotamia and Arabia. It united the inland ad- 
vantages of Aleppo with the maritime opportunities of 
Smyrna. It was almost an oriental Rome, in which 
all the forms of the civilized life of the empire found 
some representative. Through the first two centuries of 
the Christian era it was what Constantinople became 
afterwards, 'the gate of the East.'"* The city, 
though now only a small town, was, in the days of 
the Apostle, a place of great size and magnificence, 
It was surrounded by an enormous wall, said to have 
been 50 feet high and 15 feet wide. Its principal street 
was upwards of four miles in length, and adorned by 
spacious colonnades, erected at great cost by Herod 
the Great, beneath which, sheltered from the rain 
or the heat, the citizens could assemble for business 
and pleasure, or pass from the eastern to the western 
suburb. The river Orontes flowed through the city, 
forming a remarkable island in the centre. On the 
south the towering crags of Mount Silphius overhung 
the city. The buildings must, many of them, have 
been on the most magnificent scale, for the temples, 
palaces, and theatres of Antioch were said to rival 
those of Athens. The city has been partially de- 
stroyed six times by earthquakes, and on one of those 
occasions, a.d. 526, it is said that 250,000 persons 
perished. f Two earthquakes occurred but a short 
time before the Apostle visited Antioch, and it is 
likely that when he and Barnabas were engaged in 
* Conybeare and Howson. t The Footsteps of St, Paul. 



THE CALL TO ANTlCCH, 1G9 

their Apostolic work, the traces of those earthquakes 
were still visible. 

The moral condition of the city in which the 
disciples were first called Christians, was such as we 
should expect from the fact that its population was a 
mixed one gathered from all quarters. " It is pro- 
bable," say the writers already quoted, " that no popu- 
lations have been more abandoned than those of 
Oriental Greek cities under the Roman Empire, and 
of these cities Antioch was the worst." Such was the 
city where Christianity received its name, and the 
Church of Christ first rose to the recognition of its 
world-wide mission ; " for many hundred years it 
became the capital of Christendom, and was called by 
the name of Theopolis, a Greek word, which means 
City of God." * 

While the labours of Paul and Barnabas were beiug 
crowned with such wonderful success in Antioch, the 
rest which the churches in Judeea had enjoyed during 
the persecution of the Jews by the Emperor Caligula 
was broken in upon. Herod, the friend of the new 
emperor Claudius, was now King of Judsea, and being 
anxious to preserve the good wishes of the Jews, and 
knowing that there was no way of doing so more likely 
to succeed than that of being zealous to uphold their 
religion, " he stretched forth his hand to vex certain of 
the Church." This time the persecution was not 
confined to the Grecians, for both divisions of the 
Church suffered. James, the son of Zebedee and 
brother to St. John, was put to death, thus fulfilling, 
in a remarkable way, the prophesy of Jesus to his 

* The Footsteps of St. Paul. 



110 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

mother, " They shall, indeed, drink of my cup, and be 
baptized with my baptism/' The Apostle Peter, too, 
was in prison, but his hour was not yet come. The 
story of his deliverance is told in the 12th chapter of 
the Acts with great minuteness of detail. The mise- 
rable death of Herod, which took place at Caesarea 
shortly after this, put an end to the persecution, and 
restored for a little while that outward peace which 
he had so rudely disturbed. 

During the time that Herod's persecuting zeal was 
vexing the Churches of Judaea, it would appear that 
.St. Paul again visited Jerusalem for a short time, in 
company with Barnabas. The object of their visit is 
thus described by St. Luke. "And in these days 
came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And 
there stood up one of them named Agabus, and sig- 
nified that there should be a great dearth throughout 
all the world ; which came to pass in the days of 
Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man ac- 
cording to his ability, determined to send relief unto 
the brethren who dwelt in Judaea ; which also they did, 
and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas 
and Saul." # The reign of Claudius was remarkable 
for famines in various parts of the world, and a famine 
which took place in Judaea about this time is recorded 
by Josephus. It was so severe that many in Jerusalem 
died. It seems probable, therefore, that this was the 
famine which Agabus foretold. The word prophet in 
the New Testament does not necessarily mean one who 
foretells future events. i( An address fitted to produce 
a powerful effect on an audience, one by which Chris- 

* Acts xi. 27. 



THE CALL TO ANTIOCH. Ill 

tians would be excited to deeds of beneficence, would 
agree with the marks of a prophetic address in the 
New Testament sense; but as in the Acts it is expressly 
added that the famine foretold by the prophet actually 
came to pass, we must doubtless admit, in this in- 
stance, that there was a prediction of an impending 
famine, although it is possible that the prophecy 
was founded on the observation of natural signs."* 
Nothing seems more likely, in this instance at least ; 
for the signs of so severe a famine would be sure to 
manifest themselves beforehand. It may be worth 
notice in passing, that Agabus appears to have been 
the same person who subsequently warned the Apostle 
of the fate that awaited him when he visited Jerusalem 
the last time. 

It is gratifying to read, that when the brethren in 
Antioch were made acquainted with the impending 
famine in Judaea, they immediately made a collection on 
behalf of the Jewish churches. There was considerable 
difference of sentiment already beginning to manifest 
itself between the churches of Jerusalem and Antioch. 
The former was the stronghold of the Judaizing party, 
the latter had already become the centre of a movement 
which was to include Gentiles as well as Jews ; but the 
spirit of Christian charity rose above these differences. 
The Christians of Antioch did not forget the words of 
the Lord Jesus, " Ye are my disciples, if ye love one 
another f for, though poor themselves, they gave 
every man according to his ability for the relief of the 
brethren in Jerusalem, and forwarded their united 
subscriptions by the hands of Paul and Barnabas. 

* Neander. 



112 SCENES FROM THE LIPE OP ST. PAUL. 

We know nothing of this visit of the two Apostles 
to Jerusalem save the object of it. By some it has 
been supposed that they arrived in Jerusalem at the 
very time that St. Peter was in prison. This is a 
mere conjecture; for whether the visit took place 
before or after the death of Herod, it is impossible to 
say. It appears, however, that Paul and Barnabas 
did not make a long stay in Jerusalem. They re- 
turned without delay to the work at Antioch, taking 
with them a young man named John, whose surname 
was Mark. This young man was the nephew of 
Barnabas, and the writer of the Gospel according to 
Mark. His mother was the sister of Barnabas, and 
it was in her house the disciples were gathered together 
to pray, when Peter, set free from prison by the Angel 
of the Lord, came and knocked at the door. In that 
same house, in all probability, Paul and Barnabas 
lived during their visit to Jerusalem ; hence Mark 
would have frequent opportunity of hearing from their 
lips the nature of the life he must be prepared for if 
he went with them. But Mark was a young man, and 
had not yet counted the cost of the work he thus en- 
tered upon, as we shall see by-and-by. 

Paul and Barnabas, accompanied by Mark, returned 
to Antioch, where a noble work awaited them. The 
Church there had passed through its preliminary train- 
ing, and was beginning to comprehend the sense in 
which the Gospel was to be preached to all nations. 
A great missionary career was opening before it. The 
battle which then began is a deeply interesting one. 
A few men, possessing neither wealth nor worldly 
power, went forth to grapple with the wickedness and 



THE CALL TO ANTIOCH. 113 

the superstition of that age. They were persecuted 
alike by Jews and Gentiles, yet they held on their way 
rejoicing. Beaten, stoned, imprisoned, they could 
neither be put down nor made to hold their tongues, 
because they had faith in God and his truth. The 
light which shone so supremely from the life of Jesus, 
had dawned also in their souls. They knew in whom 
they put their trust, and they sought not an easy ser- 
vice but a useful one, and never doubted that God 
would send success in his own good time. The 
struggle was long, but its results did not belie their 
faith. 



' O'er the mount and through the r&oor 
Glide the Christian's steps secure ; 
Day and night, no fear he knows, 
Lonely, but with God, he goes : 
For the coat of mail, bedight 
In his spotless robe of white ; 
For the sinful sword, his hand 
Bearing high the olive-wand. 

Through the camj) and through the court, 
Through the dark and deadly fort, 
On the mission of the dove, 
Speeds the minister of love ; 
By his word the wildest tames, 
And the world to God reclaims ; 
"War, and wrath, and famine cease, 
Hush'd around his path of peace." 

B'jlweh. 



CHAPTEE X. 

THE MISSION TO THE GENTILES. 

To conceive, with any degree of vividness, the nature 
of the conflict which the first teachers of Christianity 
were called upon to maintain, we must hear in mind 
the attitude which they assumed towards the world. 
They were not merely reformers, labouring to purify the 
worship of the Jews on the one hand, or of the Pagans 
on the other, but the earnest preachers of a faith which 
they believed was destined to supplant both Paganism 
and Judaism. Theirs was a task which, to men who 
did not possess their faith and all- conquering enthu- 
siasm, must have seemed the most hopeless imaginable. 
The whole strength of the civilized world, as it then 
stood, was arrayed against them. Their Lord had 
been crucified at the instigation of the Jews, while 
the Gentiles were quite willing to go hand in hand with 
the Jews in persecuting the disciples. Nevertheless, 
as we have already endeavoured to show in our introduc- 
tory chapter, the state of the world was, in many respects, 
favourable to the spread of the new religion. 1. There 
was the dispersion of the Jews, which brought so many 
of the descendants of Abraham into contact with what 
was freest and noblest in Paganism. 2. There was 



116 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

the adoption of the Greek language by the civilized 
world as the language of commerce, of literature, and 
philosophy, preparing a vehicle for the transmission of 
the new faith to widely-different peoples. 8. There 
was also the wide- spread dominion of Home. The 
Eoman power bound, in a kind of external unity, the 
leading nations of the civilized world, and maintained 
a communication with them most favourable for the 
spread of new ideas. The great Apostle to the Gentiles 
was most admirably fitted for representing the Gospel 
to a world so circumstanced. By birth and family 
tradition a Hebrew of the Hebrews, yet the native of 
a city where, from his earliest years, he must have been 
familiar with the Greek tongue, and inheriting, from 
his father, all the rights and privileges of a Eoman 
citizen; all this, coupled with the wonderful moral and 
intellectual training he received, made him, in an ermS 
nent decree, the man fitted for the work which was to 
be clone in that age. As yet, however, Paul holds a 
place subordinate to Barnabas among the Gentile 
Churches, showing clearly that he w^as in no haste to 
push himself forward. But as the danger and the 
difficulty of the work increase, we shall gradually see 
him rise to his true place, as the leader of that 
great missionary movement which was to go on till 
the Paganism of Greece and Borne gave place to the 
religion of the crucified Jesus. 

Shortly after the return of Paul and Barnabas from 
their charitable mission to Jerusalem, we read that, as 
they were engaged, with other teachers of the new 
religion, in Antioch, " ministering" or teaching, the 
Holy Spirit said, " Separate me Barnabas and Saul 



THE MISSION TO THE GENTILES. 117 

for the work whereunto I have called them." In what 
outward form this revelation was made, St. Luke does 
not say. The most reasonable conjecture is, that the 
disciples were met, on this important occasion, to con- 
sider the propriety of sending forth special missionaries 
to scatter the seeds of Christian truth in a wider field. 
There were several teachers in the Church at Antioch 
at that time. Barnabas and Paul might be spared, 
therefore, to carry out an idea which must have 
been present in their minds for some time. But it 
was a difficult question. The sympathy of the whole 
Church and the directing Spirit of God were needed, 
before the missionaries could make up their minds, 
A day of fasting and prayer was appointed. The 
direction of the Almighty was earnestly sought, and 
the result was a firm persuasion on the minds of all 
present, that Paul and Barnabas should Jbe set apart 
for the work to which they felt themselves inwardly 
called. Arrangements were speedily made for their 
departure, and another meeting of the Church was 
called, to pray for the divine blessing on the work thus 
undertaken. What hopes were expressed, or prayers 
uttered by the brethren, on that memorable occasion, 
we cannot say. Here is St. Luke's brief record of the 
meeting : " And when they had fasted, and prayed, and 
laid hands upon them, they sent them away." The 
ceremony employed on the occasion was, apparently, 
of the simplest description, yet, as the scene rises 
before the mind, we see a beautiful fitness in its very 
simplicity. No royal journey of that age was half so 
important to the world as was this beginning of St. 
Paul's missionary labours. The Apostle did not go 



118 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

forth in the pomp of pride and power to dazzle the 
eyes of men, but in fervent reliance on the Spirit of 
God, and with the earnest blessing of a few good men, 
to teach and bear witness for a great, though hated 
and persecuted truth, 

The two missionaries, taking Mark with them, left 
Antioch to go to the island of Cyprus. The first part 
of their journey, at all events, had been fixed on before 
they started. Barnabas was a native of Cyprus ; and 
from that island the first teachers of Christianity who 
found their w T ay to Antioch had gone. There were 
many Jews there, and though the mission of Barnabas 
and Paul was to the Gentiles rather than the Jews, 
yet the best mode of reaching the Gentiles was through 
those freer Jews whose minds were liberalized by in- 
tercourse with the more devout among the Gentiles. 
Accordingly, Barnabas and Paul, attended by Mark, 
departed unto Seleucia : and from thence sailed to 
Cyprus. If you look at the map, you will see Seleucia, a 
seaport town, on the coast of the Mediterranean, nearly 
opposite Cyprus. It was a place of considerable im- 
portance in those days, strongly fortified, and had a 
magnificent harbour, built of huge stones, fastened 
together with iron cramps, the ruins of which are still 
to be seen. The river Orontes here flows into the sea, 
and it is possible that the missionaries may have sailed 
down the river, the banks of which were richly wooded 
and very beautiful ; but it is more likely, we think, 
that, as theirs was no mere pleasure excursion, they 
took the shorter journey by land. Be that as it may, 
they came to Seleucia, where they would have no diffi- 
culty in finding a ship to carry them to Cyprus. The 



THE MISSION TO THE GENTILES. 119 

island lay about 60 miles to the south-west of Seleucia; 
arid if it was a clear day when they sailed, they would 
see it before 'them soon after they left the harbour. 

Cyprus is, next to Sicily, the largest island in the 
Mediterranean. With a beautiful climate, a fertile soil, 
and every advantage for carrying on a trade with 
Egypt, Phoenicia, and Asia Minor, it had been long a 
place of great importance. We are told that there were 
large, plantations in the interior of the island which 
produced timber much valued in ship-building. In 
the cultivated plains corn, wine, oil, and flax were 
produced in abundance : while the mines and rivers of 
Cyprus produced diamonds, emeralds, silver, lead, and 
copper. The Apostle and his two companions landed 
at the town of Salamis, which you will see, if you 
consult the map, on the eastern side of the island. 
There were many Jews in Salamis, and several Jewish 
synagogues. Paul and Barnabas entered into those 
synagogues and preached the Gospel. We can neither 
tell what success attended their preaching, nor how 
long it was continued. All St. Luke records is, the 
simple fact that " they preached the Word of God in 
the Synagogues of the Jews, and they had John for 
their minister." This is the John whose surname was 
Mark ; and, by minister, is probably meant their ser- 
vant, or attendant, whose business would be to attend 
to their secular concerns, and provide for their daily 
wants. But in the work of Messrs. Conybeare and 
How r son, a different interpretation is laid upon his 
office. These writers suggest that, as " some stress 
seems to be laid on the fact that John was their minis- 
ter, perhaps we are to infer from it, that his hands 



120 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAJJL. 

baptized the Jews and Proselytes, who were convinced 
by the preaching of the Apostles." * 

From Salamis the missionaries went right through 
Cyprus to Paphos. The distance was about 100 miles, 
and the direction from east to west. The two towns, 
being both of considerable importance, were doubtless 
connected by a good, well-travelled road. The journey 
would be performed, therefore, in a short time, without 
much difficulty. At Paphos, where lived the Eoman 
governor, or pro-consul, Sergius Paulus, Paul and 
Barnabas encountered " a certain sorcerer, or false 
prophet, a Jew, w r hose name was Bar-Jesus." This 
Jew was with the Bonian governor, and evidently exer- 
cised considerable influence over his mind. To under- 
stand this, our readers must remember that impostors, 
from their pretending to magical powers, possessed 
very considerable influence among the Bomans. In 
the days of the Apostle the religious faith of educated 
Bomans was utterly dead ; and all experience goes to 
prove that unbelief gives birth to superstitions as de- 
grading as ignorance. The Boman pro-consul was an 
educated man. He was dissatisfied with all that the 
popular religions could offer to satisfy the higher wants 
of his nature, but, being of an inquiring turn of mind, 
he sent for Paul and Barnabas, and desired them to 
expound the new faith to him. He w r as a Boman, not 
a Jew, therefore it is likely that the Apostle would 
expound Christianity to him, from its spiritual rather 
than its historical side : speak then 3 as he did after- 
wards to the people of Athens, of Him who is the 
maker and upholder of all things, and of Jesus Christ, 

* Life and Epistle? of St. Paul, vol. i., p. 172. 



THE MISSION TO THE GENTILES. 121 

through whom he had revealed life and immortality. 
There was something in all this so different from what 
the Eoman had hitherto heard taught in the name of 
religion, that a new light flashed upon his mind, and 
made him something more than an attentive listener. 
The sorcerer Bar-Jesus, knowing that his power was 
at an end, if the pro-consul became a convert to the new 
faith, did all he could to destroy the impression which 
the Apostle had made. But Paul, full of holy indig- 
nation, rebuked the sorcerer, and declared that the 
Lord would punish him with blindness for a season. 
" And immediately/' says St. Luke, " there fell on him 
a mist and a darkness : and he went about seeking 
some one to lead him by the hand." The Roman, 
" astonished at the doctrine of the Lord, believed." 

Readers of the Acts will here observe that the 
Apostle is for the first time called Paul. Various 
conjectures have been formed regarding this change in 
name. Some have supposed that Saul became Paul 
in commemoration of the Roman Pro-consul Sergius 
Paulus. This may have been the reason, and it gives 
some colouring to this view that the name of Paul is 
first applied to the Apostle in connection with that 
event. On the other hand it hardly seems a fitting 
motive for Saul to throw aside the name he had borne 
from his childhood, and which was, in all probability, 
associated with his family history. It seems more 
likely, therefore, that he had always borne the name 
of Paul, but that it was only brought forward pro- 
minently when he entered on his missionary labours. 
He always speaks of himself as Paul, and that may 
have been his Roman name, adopted as a sign of his 

G 



122 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

citizenship. But from whatever cause, the word Saul 
is now left out of St. Luke's narrative, and that of Paul 
substituted for it. It is remarkable also that from this 
time Paul becomes the leader in all the movements of 
the missionaries, and Barnabas takes a subordinate 
place. This is no more than we should have expected ; 
for the really great man is brought out by circum- 
stances, and lesser men naturally take their places 
beneath him. But this sudden change in the relative 
positions of Paul and Barnabas throws some light, we 
think, on the Apostle's change of name. It is gene- 
rally believed that St. Luke compiled the earlier 
portions of the Acts of the Apostles from distinct 
narratives. At this point of his history he seems to 
be leaving the memoirs of the Church and entering 
on the special history of St. Paul's labours among the 
heathen. In the sketch of the early Church made use 
of by St. Luke, the Apostle naturally played a sub- 
ordinate part, and was known by his Jewish name of 
Saul ; but in the narrative of his labours among the 
heathen he takes his true place, and is called by the 
name best known to his Gentile converts. This ex- 
plains, we think, why the change from Saul to Paul 
takes place at that part of the narrative of the Acts 
where Paul begins to play the leading, and Barnabas 
the subordinate part. 

From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to 
Perga, in Pamphylia. If you refer again to the map 
you will see Perga to the north-west of Cyprus. There 
they were, once more, on the main land, and more 
distinctly on Gentile ground. What determined them 
to sail to Perga we know not ; but when they arrived 



THE MISSION TO THE GENTILES. 123 

there, Mark's courage began to fail. Accordingly he 
left his two friends and returned to Jerusalem. That 
Paul was dissatisfied witli him for so doing there cm 
be no doubt, for he refused to take him with them on 
a future occasion for that very reason. Paul and 
Barnabas, however, let Mark take his own course, and 
held on their own way. Whether they tried to obtain 
a hearing for their cause at Per^a or not, we cannot 
say. At all events their stay there was brief. Leaving 
Perga they set out for Antioch in Pisidia. This was 
a more perilous journey than any they had yet under- 
taken, and this may, in part at least, account for Mark's 
faint-heartedness. 

As the difficulties which must have attended this 
journey give a good idea of the many hardships 
through which the Apostle must have passed in 
his missionary journeys, we shall abridge from the 
work of Messrs. Conybeare and Howson a very in- 
teresting and carefully-compiled description of the 
country through which Paul and Barnabas must have 
passed in travelling from Perga, in Pamphylia, to 
Antioch, in Pisidia. 

" The lawless and marauding habits of the inhabi- 
tants of those mountains which separate the table- 
land in the interior of Asia Minor from the plains on 
the south coast, were notorious in all parts of ancient 
history. Alexander the Great found some of the 
worst difficulties of his whole campaign in penetrating 
through this district. And no population through the 
midst of which St. Paul ever travelled, abounded more 
in those 'perils of robbers,' of which he himself 
speaks, than the wild and lawless clans of the Pisidiau 

G 2 



]2i SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

highlanders. And if he was exposed to dangers from 
the attacks of men, there might be other dangers not 
less imminent arising from the natural character of 
the country itself. To travellers in the East there is 
a reality in f perils of rivers/ which we in England are 
hardly able to understand. Unfamiliar with the sud- 
den flooding of thirsty water- courses, we seldom com- 
prehend the full force of some of the most striking 
images in the Bible. The rivers of Asia Minor, 
like the rivers in the Levant, are liable to violent and 
sudden changes. And no district in Asia Minor is 
more singularly characterized by its 'water floods' 
than the mountainous tract of Pisidia, where rivers 
burst out at the bases of huge cliffs, or dash down 
wildly from narrow ravines. 

"It has been supposed that the two missionaries left 
Perga about the end of spring, as that would be the 
most natural time for a journey to the mountains. 
Earlier in the spring the passes would have been filled 
with the snow. In the heat of summer the weather 
would have been less favourable for the journey. In 
the autumn the disadvantages would have been still 
greater, from the approaching difficulties of winter. 
But, again, if St. Paul was at Perga in May, a further 
reason may be given why he did not stay there, but 
seized all the advantages of the season for prosecuting 
his journey to the interior. The habits of a people 
are always determined or modified by the physical 
peculiarities of their country, and a custom prevails 
among the inhabitants of this part of Asia Minor, 
which there is every reason to believe has been un- 
broken for centuries. At the beginning of the hot 



THE MISSION TO THE GENTILES. 125 

season they move up from the plains to the cool basin- 
like hollows on the mountains. Their summer re- 
treats are always spoken of with pride and satisfaction, 
and the time of the journey anticipated with eager de- 
light. When the time arrives, the people may be seen 
ascending to the upper grounds; men, women, and 
children with flocks and herds, camels and assee, 
like the patriarchs of old. If, then, St. Paul was at 
Perga in May, he would find the inhabitants deserting 
its hot and silent streets. They would be moving in 
the direction of his own intended journey. He would 
be under no temptation to stay. And if we imagine 
him as joining some such company of Pamphylian 
families on his way to the Pisidian mountains, it gives 
much interest and animation to the thought of this 
part of his progress. 

" Perhaps it was in such company that the Apostle 
entered the first passes of the mountainous district, 
along some road formed partly by artificial pavement 
and partly by the native marble, with high cliffs frown- 
ing on either hand, with tombs and inscriptions, even 
then ancient, on the projecting rocks around, and 
with copious fountains bursting out among thickets of 
pomegranates and oleanders. The oleander abounds 
in the lower watercourses ; and in the month of May 
it borders all the banks with a line of brilliant crimson. 
As the path ascends, the rocks begin to assume the 
wilder grandeur of mountains, the richer fruit trees 
begin to disappear, and the pine and walnut succeed ; 
though the plane tree still stretches its wide leaves over 
the stream which dashes wildly down the ravine, cross- 
ing and re-crossing the dangerous road. The alteration 



126 SCENES EROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

of climate which attends on the traveller's progress, 
is soon perceptible. A few hours will make the differ- 
ence of weeks or even months. When the corn is in 
the ear on the lowlands, ploughing and sowing are 
hardly well begun upon the highlands. Spring flowers 
may be seen in the mountains, by the very edge of the 
snow, when the anemone is withered in the plain, and 
the pink veins in the white asphodel flower are shrivelled 
by the heat. When the cottages are closed and the 
grass is parched, and everything is silent below in the 
purple haze and stillness of midsummer, clouds are 
seen drifting among the Pisidian precipices, and the 
., cavern is often a welcome shelter from a cold and 
penetrating wind. The upper part of this district is a 
wild region of cliffs, often isolated and bare, and se- 
parated from each other by valleys of sand, which the 
storm drives with blinding violence among the shivered 
points. The trees become fewer and smaller at every 
step. Three belts of vegetation are passed through in 
ascending from the coast: first the oak woods, then 
the forests of pine, and, lastly, the dark scattered 
patches of the cedar-juniper; and then we reach the 
treeless plains of the interior, w T hich stretch in dreary 
extension to the north and the east. 

" After a journey such as this, separating, we know 
not where, from the companions they may have joined, 
and often thinking of that Christian companion who 
had withdrawn himself from their society when they 
needed him most, Paul and Barnabas emerged from 
the rugged mountain passes, and came upon the central 
table-land of Asia Minor. The whole interior region 
of the peninsula may be correctly described by this 



THE MISSION TO THE GENTILES. 127 

term ; for, though intersected, in various directions, by 
mountain ranges, it is, on the whole, a vast plateau, 
elevated higher than the summit of Ben Nevis above 
the level of the sea. This is the general character; 
though a long journey across the district brings the 
traveller through many varieties of scenery. Some- 
times he moves for hours along the dreary margin of 
an inland sea of salt, — sometimes he rests in a cheer- 
ful, hospitable town, by the shore of a fresh-water lake. 
In some places the ground is burnt and volcanic ; in 
others green and fruitful. Sometimes it is depressed 
into watery hollows, where wild swans visit the pools, 
and storks are seen fishing and feeding among the 
weeds; more frequently it is spread out into broad, 
open downs, like Salisbury Plain, which afford an inter- 
minable pasture for flocks of sheep. To the north 
of Pamphylia, the elev'Sted plain stretches through 
Phrygia, for a hundred miles, from Mount Taurus to 
Mount Olympus. The southern portions of these 
bleak uplands wa§ crossed by St. Paul's track, imme- 
diately before his arrival at Antioch, in Pisidia. The 
features of human life which he had around him are 
probably almost as unaltered as the scenery of the 
country — dreary villages, with flat-roofed huts and 
cattle-sheds, in the day; and at night, an encampment 
of tents of goats' hair, a blazing fire in the midst, 
horses fastened around, and, in the distance, the moon 
shining on the snowy summits of Taurus/' 

The rapidity with which St. Luke, in his narrative, 
passes over the many journeys of the Apostle, is apt 
to mislead the reader who has not much knowledge of 
Scripture Geography. The main interest of St. Luke 



128 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

centres in the Apostle's work as a missionary of the 
Gospel. But, a true estimate of St. Paul's labours 
must include the physical, as well as the moral and 
intellectual difficulties that lay in his path. The 
teacher of a despised and hated cause, he had to en- 
counter everywhere, as a matter of course, bigotry and 
superstition ; but the perils and hardships he had to 
face, as a mere traveller, must have been such as only 
the most devoted faith and heroic endurance could have 
enabled him to overcome. The more we can realize, 
in our own minds, the nature of the manifold diffi- 
culties which he had to tread down, the truer our con- 
ception of his work will be. Some knowledge of the 
outward features of the various countries through 
which the Apostle passed, is necessary, before we can 
realize the stern reality of that picture which he has 
so graphically sketched, of one who was, " In journey- 
ings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in 
perils among his own countrymen, in perils among 
the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilder- 
ness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, 
in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in 
hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and 
nakedness." 



CHAPTER XI. 



THE P E E A C H E E. 



G 3 



' Thanks to God for those who came 
In the Saviour's glorious name ; 
Who upon the green earth trod, 
But to teach the truth of God. 

For the great Apostles first, 
Who from life's endearments burst, 
Going from the cross, and then 
Leading to the cross again. 

For the next, who meekly pour'd 
Willing blood to serve the Lord ; 
Fearless bore the racks of pain, 
Felon's death, or captive's chain. 

And for all, from shore to shore, 
Who the blessed tidings bore ; 
All who wrought for liberty, 
When 'twas treason to be free. 

Ye who now, in better days, 
Live to spread your Maker s praise, 
Shedding, each man's home around, 
Light that consecrates the ground; 

Teachers of the Word of Light, 
Go forth in your Master's might ! 
Speed your embassy where'er 
Life has grief, or death has fear." 



Johns. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE PREACHER. 

The Pisidian Antioch, to which the two missionaries 
have now come, must he carefully distinguished from 
the Antioch in Syria, from which they started. It 
will he well, therefore, to look at the map and follow, 
with your eyes, their journey so far. Remember, too, 
the kind of journey they must have had between Perga 
and Antioch, and the nature of the country in the 
midst of which they now were; for by associating 
events with the places at which they occurred, you will 
be all the more likely to remember them. Antioch, in 
Pisidia, was called after the same person as the Syrian 
Antioch. but it was a very different town. In the days 
of the Apostle it was more a Roman than a Greek 
town, and he would hear Latin spoken side by side 
with the Greek and the ruder Pisidian dialect. There 
were not many Jews in Antioch, for they had only one 
synagogue, yet it would appear that they had gained 
considerable influence in the place, and made a good 
many converts to their faith among the Gentiles. In 
some of the cities where the Jews were numerous and 
wealthy, their synagogues were built in conspicuous 
places and had an imposing appearance, but, generally 



132 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

speaking, it was not so. They were probably, how- 
ever, all built on pretty much the same plan, and with 
the same internal arrangements. They were built in a 
circular form, with the reader's desk, or "pulpit of 
wood " in the centre, and the seats rising one above 
another all round. On the side of the building nearest 
to Jerusalem, and not far from the readers desk, was 
the ark where the sacred books were kept. In front of 
the desk, and facing the congregation, were the stone 
seat or seats where the rulers of the synagogue sat, 
and in a separate gallery, or behind a partition of 
lattice- work, sat the women. The worship was very 
simple, yet it must have been very impressive. The 
prayers were recited by a person called the " Angel," 
or '"'Apostle " of the assembly, then the roll of sacred 
manuscript was handed from the ark to the reader, and 
a certain portion of it read according to a fixed order. 
After the Scriptures were read, the manuscript was 
rolled up and returned to the minister ; then followed a 
pause in the service, during which strangers, or learned 
men who had a word of instruction, consolation or 
exhortation to offer, rose and addressed the meeting. 

Our readers must picture in their own minds the 
Jews and the Jewish proselytes of Antioch meeting to 
worship in such a synagogue as we have attempted to 
describe, and Paul and Barnabas sitting down with 
them. They were living under the government of 
Imperial Eome, but full liberty of worship was per- 
mitted them. The solemn prayers have been recited, 
and the sacred Scriptures read; then the rulers of the 
synagogue send a message to the two strangers, in- 
viting them to address the people, if they had any 



THE PKEACHER. 333 

word of exhortation to offer. It may have been the 
thoughtful look and devout bearing of the two stran- 
gers which called forth this invitation, or it may have 
been that Paul and Barnabas intimated by the seats 
on which they sat, that they were in the habit of 
speaking in the synagogues, and desired to speak to 
their countrymen on the present occasion. Be that as 
it may, they were invited to speak, and Paul at once 
accepted the invitation. "He stood up," as St. Luke 
tells us, " and beckoned with his hand." This attitude 
was probably a favourite one with him, and it was one 
well fitted for arresting the attention of his hearers. 
The address which followed reminds us of the one 
delivered by Stephen when on his defence before the 
Jewish Sanhedrin. It shows how essentia] to the Chris- 
tian missionary was his early training in the Jewish 
religionc When we come to the address on Mars' Hill, 
we shall see that the Apostle could adapt his discourse 
to the Greek as well as the Jew; but here in Antioch 
he was speaking to men who were familiar with the 
teachings of the Old Testament; who were worshippers 
of the true God, and believers in the law and the 
prophets. The Apostle begins, therefore, by remind- 
ing the Jews, who formed by far the larger part of his 
hearers, how God had chosen their fathers, and made 
of them a great people. He seeks to win their sym- 
pathy for the Gospel he has come to preach, by showing 
them that Jesus was no other than the Messiah foretold 
by ancient prophets. True, the people of Jerusalem, 
with their rulers, had not recognized in the lowly Jesus 
the Messiah of the prophets; but God had made that 
fact abundantly clear by raising him from the dead. 



134 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

So far his address may be regarded as specially adapted 
to the Jewish part of his audience ; but turning to the 
Gentile converts who were present, he proceeded in a 
bolder strain to declare the catholicity of Christ's 
Gospel. The address is very characteristic of the 
Apostle, and was admirably adapted for the purpose he 
had in view. But it regards Christianity from a stand- 
point so decidedly Jewish, that it has less general 
interest than the one delivered on Mars' Hill, where 
the Apostle rose above the accidents of race and 
country, and spoke of Him who has made of one 
blood all nations of men. Nevertheless the address 
delivered in the synagogue of the Pisidian Antioch 
should be carefully read by all who are anxious to 
understand the life and teachings of St. Paul, because 
it reveals one phase of his mind, and, perhaps, the 
most difficult for us in these days thoroughly to com- 
prehend. The translation of the address we print is 
taken from the late Mr. Edgar Taylor's version of the 
New Testament. 

" Men of Israel, and ye that 'fear God, hearken ! * 
The God of this people chose our fathers, and exalted 
this people while they dwelt as strangers in the land 
of Egypt, and brought them out of it with a high arm, 
and for about the space of forty years nourished them 
in the desert. And having destroyed seven nations in 
the land of Canaan, he divided their land to our 
fathers for an inheritance. And after that, he ap- 
pointed unto them judges for about four hundred 
and h'fty years, until Samuel the prophet. And after- 

* i.e., Men of Israel, and ye proselytes of the Gentiles, who wor- 
ship the God of Abraham. 



THE PREACHER. 135 

wards they desired a king ; and God gave them Saul 
the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, 
during forty years. And when He removed him, He 
raised up unto them David to be their king, to whom 
also He gave testimony, and said, ' I have found David, 
the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, who 
will fulfil all my will/ Of this man's seed God, ac- 
cording to His promise, hath brought unto Israel a 
Saviour, Jesus; John having first, before his appear- 
ance, proclaimed the baptism of repentance to all the 
people of Israel. And when John was fulfilling his 
course, he said, ' Whom think ye that I am ? I am 
not he. But behold ! there cometh one after me, the 
shoes of whose feet I am unworthy to unloose/ 

" Brethren, sons of the stock of Abraham, and 
whosoever among you feareth God, unto you was the 
word of this salvation sent. For those who dwell at 
Jerusalem, and their rulers, not knowing him, have, 
in condemning him, fulfilled the words of the prophets 
which are read on every Sabbath ; and, though they 
found no cause of death in him, yet they besought 
Pilate that he might be put to death ; and, after 
fulfilling all that had been written concerning him* 
they took him down from the cross and laid him in a 
sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead, and 
he was seen for many days by those who came up 
with him from Galilee to Jerusalem ; who are now 
his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto 
you the glad tidings concerning the promise which was 
made unto the fathers, how that God hath fulfilled it 
unto us, their children, by raising up Jesus again, as 
it is also wTitten in the second Psalm, * Thou art my 



136 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OP ST. PAUL. 

Son, this day have I begotten thee/ And concerning 
God's raising him up from the dead, no more to return 
to corruption, he speaketh thus, — M will give you the 
sure mercies promised to David/ Wherefore he saith 
also in another place, i Thou wilt not suffer thine holy 
one to see corruption/ Now David, after he had 
fulfilled the counsel of God in his own time, fell asleep, 
and was gathered to his fathers and saw corruption, 
but he whom God hath raised again did not see cor- 
ruption. 

"Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that 
through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed unto 
you, and all who believe in him are justified from all 
those things, from which ye could not be justified 
under the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest that 
come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets, 
' Behold, ye scorners, and wonder, and perish ; for I 
work a work in your days, a work in which ye will in 
-no wise believe, though one declare it unto you/" 

This address, uttered with all the earnestness of one 
who feeJs that he is inspired with a great faith, yet so 
respectful to the Jews, must have made a deep im- 
pression on all who heard it. The Gentile converts 
especially, it would appear, were stirred by it, and, as 
the congregation was leaving the synagogue, the Gen- 
tiles earnestly besought Paul and Barnabas to preach 
this gospel to them on the next Sabbath. But many 
of the Apostle's hearers could not wait till the next 
Sabbath ; for many, both Jews and Gentiles, followed 
after the two missionaries, and desired to hear more 
respecting the new doctrine. Paul and Barnabas spoke 
to them encouragingly, with a view to deepen the 



THE PREACHER. 137 

favourable impression already made, " persuading them 

to continue in the grace of God/' 

How the time was passed till the following Sabbath 
came round we are not informed. But from all that 
we know- of the character of St. Paul, we cannot imagine 
that the intervening six days were spent idly. The 
two missionaries must have found many opportunities 
during the week, of meeting those with whom they 
had sat down to worship on the Sabbath, and that 
they would use those opportunities in the interest of 
the new faith can hardly be doubted. Accordingly, by 
the next Sabbath, the excitement had spread beyond the 
borders of the svna^o^ue, and " almost the whole citv 

• DO- 7 J 

came together to hear the strange tidings which the two 
missionaries had brought." St. Luke has given no out- 
line of the address delivered on this second public occa- 
sion, but as there was a numerous crowd of Gentiles, 
as well as Jews, we can easilv believe that St. Paul 
presented Christianity from its spiritual as well as its 
historical side. The religious prejudices of the Jews 
would therefore be more deeply wounded on the second 
Sabbath than they had been on the first, and seeing 
the multitudes who had come out to hear the Apostle, 
the Jews were filled with envy, and spoke against those 
things which Paul had been setting forth. But Paul 
and Barnabas only waxed bolder, saying to those Jews 
who had been " contradicting and blaspheming," " It 
was necessary that the Word of God should first be 
spoken to you ; but seeing you have put it from you, 
and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we 
tu7H to the Gentiles/' In justification of this course 
a passage from the prophet Isaiah was then quoted, 



138 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

which ran as follows : — u For so hath the Lord com- 
manded us, saying, I have set thee for a light to the 
Gentiles, that thou shouldest he for a salvation to the 
ends of the earth." The Gentiles, many of whom had 
listened to the discourse of the Apostle with wonder 
and delight, were rejoiced to hear this. " They were 
glad," St. Luke tells us, " and glorified the Word of 
the Lord." Some place of meeting would soon be 
found for those who had been interested, and thus the 
foundation of a Christian church was laid in Antioch. 
The synagogue might be closed against the new 
teachers, but they soon found other ways of letting 
their voices be heard, and the result was that the Word 
of the Lord was published throughout the whole 
region. 

But the envy and malice of their opponents did not 
rest satisfied with merely putting them out of the 
synagogue. They " stirred up the devout and honour- 
able women and the chief men of the city, and raised 
a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled 
them from their coasts." The Jews were not a nume- 
rous body in Antioch, yet there, as in many another 
Gentile city, they seem to have possessed considerable 
influence. The source of that influence is indicated 
by the passage first quoted from the Acts. In many 
of the Heathen cities the Jews derived much support 
from converts made among the better educated class of 
Gentile women. It was so in Damascus ; and here, 
again, in Antioch, the Apostle has probably, for the 
second time, to meet an opposition, made all the more 
powerful, as well as bitter, by the influence of devout 
and honourable women, who were in a position which 



THE PREACHER. 139 

enabled them to win over to their side the leading men 
of the city. The persecution thus set on foot was, doubt- 
less, all the more violent because the Apostles remained 
in the city; soon it became dangerous for them to re- 
main longer. We can imagine their converts urging 
them to leave, at least for a time, till the violence of 
their enemies cooled down. Theirs was a life of danger 
and privation, but if suffering came in the path of duty, 
they did not shrink from it. Nevertheless, nobody 
could be more prudent in shunning needless danger 
than St. Paul was. He was no blind fanatic, eager to 
win the renown of martyrdom, but a calm, clear-headed 
man, as prudent in avoiding danger, as he was bold in 
meeting it when it could not be shrunk from without 
dishonour. The two missionaries, therefore, finding 
that their present usefulness was obstructed by the fury 
of the persecution, took an affectionate farewell of their 
friends, and, " shaking off from their feet the dust of 
the dry and sunburnt road, in token of God's judg- 
ment on wilful unbelievers, turned their steps eastwards 
in the direction of Lycaonia." * 

Passing over some GO miles of a wild and dreary 
plain, Paul and Barnabas came to the town of Iconium. 
This town, afterwards, became famous in history, " as 
the cradle of the rising power of the conquering Turks," 
and it is still a Turkish city, though its ancient grandeur 
has long ago disappeared. At the time St. Paul visited 
Iconium, improbably, did not differ in many respects from 
the city he had just left. Here, too, he found a Jewish 
synagogue; and, entering it on the Sabbath, so spoke, 
that a great multitude, both of the Jews and the Greeks, 

* Conybeare and Howson. 



140 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

believed. But similar causes were at work here as had 
driven the Apostles from Antioch. The unbelieving 
Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and filled their minds 
with evil thoughts regarding the brethren. The success 
of Paul and Barnabas either was greater in Iconium 
than it had been in Antioch, or the Jews did not possess 
the same influence in the former city as in the latter ; 
for, in Iconium they only managed to divide the multi- 
tude. The two missionaries, therefore, remained a 
long time in Iconium, preaching the word of truth with 
great boldness, and many believed. But at last, the 
unbelieving Jews entered into a conspiracy with the 
Gentiles, who sided with them, to assault Paul and 
Barnabas and stone them. Among the conspirators 
were some of the chief men of the city. " Not many 
noble are called," the Apostle himself said, writing 
many years afterwards ; and it would appear that, even 
in those cities where the new teachers were most sue- 
cessful, their success did not consist in gaining over to 
their cause the rich and the great. The rulers of the 
city and of the synagogue were alike ready to persecute 
on the slightest provocation. Finding it so in this 
instance, the Apostles deemed it more prudent not to 
brave the rising storm.- They fled from Iconium 
" unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto 
the region that lieth round about, and there they 
preached the Gospel." 

The district through which they passed, when they 
fled from Iconium, was bleak and dreary, and the 
towns to which they came were very different in their 
character from those they had lately visited. They 
have now to deal with a purely heathen population, 



THE PREACHER. 141 

and can no longer introduce their glad tidings through 
the Jewish synagogue. Though considerable uncer- 
tainty is felt regarding the sites on which the two towns . 
we are now to speak of stood, yet everything tends to 
confirm the description, given by St. Luke, of the 
character of the population of these towns. The word 
heathen, literally, means a dweller on the heath ; and 
as Christianity first took root in the large cities, and in 
the towns on the highways connecting large cities, the 
inhabitants of the wilder and more uncultivated regions 
adhered to the old religion long after the great cities 
had become Christian : hence the term heathen came 
to represent a religious as well as a physical fact. Now, 
a large portion of the district of Lycaonia w T as wild 
and uncultivated. The towns of Lystra and Derbe 
were in the wildest part of the district, somew 7 here near 
to the base of a great mountain that rises from the 
plain, called the "Black Mountain." Their inhabi- 
tants, living more apart from the great civilizing in- 
fluences of that age than those of the more important 
cities of Antioch and Iconium, w T ere in a more simple 
or primitive condition ; hence, through them, w r e are 
brought into direct contact with heathen superstition 
and mythology. Not the superstition of an educated 
mind, nor the mythology of a refined and cultivated 
taste, but of a rude and unsophisticated people. 

We are not told what Paul and Barnabas did to 
attract attention to their teachings in Lystra, except 
that, "they preached the Gospel." Probably, the two 
strangers entered into conversation w T ith the people they 
met in the market-place. This would excite attention, 
and make men curious to hear more of the strange 



142 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

tidings thus brought. Then larger numbers gathered 
round the two missionaries, and thus an audience would 
be found. If tradition can be trusted, Barnabas was 
a person of a stately, commanding aspect. Paul, as 
his name implies,* had a less imposing appearance, 
bat he was the chief speaker. The inhabitants of 
Lystra, therefore, hearing Paul speak of religion, na- 
turally associated the appearance of the two strangers 
witli the gods. The miracle worked by St. Paul on 
the cripple " who never had walked," confirmed this 
impression. The rude people, talking in their own 
dialect, said among themselves, " the gods are come 
down to us in the likeness of men." There was nothing 
at all inconsistent with their ideas of the Divinity in 
such a notion. According to their own traditions, such 
a thing had taken place more than once before. The 
matter was soon settled in the people's mind. Barna- 
bas, with his commanding presence, must be Jupiter, 
king of gods and men ; and Paul, the chief speaker, 
must be Mercury, god of eloquence. All this discus- 
sion was carried on by the crowd in the speech of 
Lycaonia ; the missionaries could not understand it, 
and were only made aware of what the people's thoughts 
were when they saw the priests of Jupiter and the 
multitude coming with oxen and garlands to the gates 
to offer sacrifice unto them. The truth flashed on the 
minds of Paul and Barnabas in a moment. They rent 
their clothes, in token of disapprobation, and ran in 
among the people, crying aloud, "Why do ye these 
things ? We, too, are men of like passions with you, 
and preach unto you that you should turn from these 
* Paul means small, or little. 



THE PREACHER. 143 

vanities unto the living God, who made heaven and 
earth, and the sea and all things that are therein ; who, 
in times past, suffered all nations to walk in their own 
ways. Nevertheless, He left not Himself without 
witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from 
heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with 
food and gladness." This address, so beautifully fitted 
for the occasion, and delivered, probably, with a wild, 
passionate earnestness well calculated to arrest atten- 
tion, had the desired effect. The people were re- 
strained, though with some difficulty, from offering 
sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas as gods. 

But soon the outward aspect of things in the town 
of Lystra was altogether changed. Certain Jews, 
who had followed the two Apostles from Antioch and 
Iconium, arrived at Lystra, and they soon persuaded 
the Lystrians that Paul and Barnabas were wicked 
persons, doing all they did with the intention of mis- 
leading men, and turning them away from the religion 
of their fathers. The people, naturally credulous, gave 
heed to these representations, and their respect was at once 
changed to hate — a change by no means rare, for few 
things are more fickle than the applause of the multi- 
tude. The next thing we are told of the Apostle, 
therefore, is that the Lystrians stoned him and threw 
him out of their city for dead. Thus the fate of Stephen 
nearly became that of Paul, and Barnabas might have 
had to return to Antioch, in Syria, with the terrible 
tidings that Paul was dead. Bat it was not so : the 
mission to the Gentiles wj s not to end here. While 
the disciples stood round the apparently lifeless body 
of their friend, the spirit slowly returned, and Paul 



144 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

rose to his feet and returned to the city. It was not 
advisable, however, that they should again, at that time, 
brave the excited passions of the Lystrians ; so, the 
next day, Paul and Barnabas departed to Derbe. . 

In Derbe they preached the Gospel with considerable 
success, and, apparently, suffered no persecution. How 
long they remained there we cannot say, but their 
journey did not extend beyond Derbe ; for, St. Luke 
tells us that, " when they had preached the Gospel to 
that city, and had taught many, they returned again to 
Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch, confirming 
the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to con- 
tinue in the faith, because only through much tribula- 
tion could they hope to enter into the kingdom of 
God." If you look at the map, you will see how much 
easier it would have been for Paul and Barnabas to 
have returned to Antioch, in Syria, through St. Paul's 
native province of Cilicia. They would have avoided 
a long and perilous journey had they done so, and it 
seems almost, from the direction their journey took, 
that such was their original intention. But if so, for 
some reason or other, they altered it. and returned the 
way they came, or nearly so. Probably they wanted 
to see how the Churches they had planted by the way 
were thriving ; for, we are told that, " when they had 
ordained elders in every Church, and had prayed with 
fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom 
they believed." Passing through Pisidia, they came 
to Pamphylia. And when they had preached at Perga, 
they passed along the coast to Attalia, and there they 
found a ship bound to Antioch, in Syria, " from whence 
they had been recommended to the grace of God for the 



THE PREACHER. 145 

work which they had fulfilled." Thus ended the first 
missionary journey, which, probably, took up rather 
more than a year, and must haye made the Apostle 
familiar with the sufferings he must needs bear, and 
the hardships he would have to endure in prosecuting 
the glorious % work on which he and Barnabas had so 
bravely entered. 



11 The uplifted eye, the bended knee, 
Are but vain homage, Lord, to thee ; 
In vain our lips thy praise prolong, 
The heart a stranger to the song. 

Can rites, and forms, and flaming zeal, 
The breaches of thy precepts heal S 
Or fast and penance reconcile 
Thy justice, and obtain thy smile ? 

The pure, the humble, contrite mind, 
Thankful, and to thy will resign'd, 
To thee a nobler offering yields 
Than Sheba's groves or Sharon's fields. 

Be just and kind : that great command 
Doth on eternal pillars stand : 
This did thy ancient prophets teach, 
And this thy well-beloved preach." 

Scott. 



CHAPTER XII. 

A COUNCIL OF FAITH. 

We can imagine the joy which filled the hearts of the 
Christians in the Syrian Antioch when Paul and Bar- 
nabas " rehearsed all that God had done with them" 
in their absence, and showed how the door of faith 
was opened and the Gentiles were crowding into the 
Christian Temple. But this joy was partly marred by 
an unhappy difference of sentiment which now began to 
manifest itself in the Church. Neither was this dif- 
ference about a matter of trifling importance, for the 
question which was threatening to rend asunder the 
infant Church was one relating to the very terms of 
Christian communion and salvation. St. Luke tells us 
that i( certain men who came down from Judsea to An- 
tioch taught the brethren, and said, ' Except ye be cir- 
cumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be 
saved.' " The effect of this teaching was to subvert all 
that Paul and Barnabas had been doing to spread the 
Gospel in the world. The great Apostle to the Gentiles 
might well ask what was the use of Christianity, if it 
did not break down the partition wall between Jew and 
Gentile, and raise out of the ruins a free platform on 
which men of all nations might stand equal in the sight 

h2 



148 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

of God, and worship the unseen Father in spirit and in 
truth ? But it was hard for those who had been 
brought up in the exclusive system of Judaism to sur- 
render all their fancied rights and privileges as the 
descendants of Abraham. 

We have seen how the first disciples clung to the 
notion that Jesus would establish a visible kingdom 
on the earth, and how reluctant they were to receive 
the great truth so mysteriously revealed to St. Peter, 
" that God is no respecter of persons, but accepts all 
of every nation who fear him and work righteousness. " 
It seems probable, from a careful study of all the 
facts relating to this question as they are presented to 
us in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of St, 
Paul, that St. Peter himself did not foresee all the 
consequences involved in the noble truth revealed to 
him. He was of a peculiarly impulsive temperament, 
and may, according to the circumstances in which he 
was placed, have wavered in his mind as to whether 
the case of Cornelius was to be an exceptional one, or 
intended as a sign that the new religion possessed an 
element of universality not to be found in the Law 
and the Prophets. The Church at Jerusalem was 
essentially Jewish in its character. The death of 
Stephen, and the subsequent persecution of his fol- 
lowers, appears to have nipped in the bud the signs of 
a freer life which began early to manifest themselves in 
it. The Judaizing element, therefore, was all-powerful 
among the disciples in Jerusalem. Christianity was a 
diviner thing than they dreamed of. They would 
have kept it for ever in bondage to the Law, but, in 
spite of their efforts to do so, the providence of God 



A COUNCIL OF FAITH. 149 

was solving the problem as to how the Law should give 
place to the Gospel in a way more in accordance with 
the interests of humanity. Still, the struggle between 
the two parties in the Church was long and bitter, as 
every intelligent reader of the Epistles of St. Paul 
must feel. It does not appear to have given rise to 
any actual separation of the Church into two distinct 
bodies, but this was probably avoided only by the 
wisdom and moderation of the leaders. All that St. 
Paul contended for was, that the Gentiles, on becoming 
Christian, need not come under the bondage of the Law. 
Men might believe in Christ, he maintained, without 
first becoming Jews. The leaders of the Church in 
Jerusalem granted so much; thus outward unity, at 
least, was preserved. But that a numerous party of 
Judaizers were never quite satisfied with this union is 
borne witness to by the fact, that St. Paul's labours 
were constantly being frustrated by the influence of men 
who professed to be the representatives of the Church 
in Jerusalem. We have several striking illustrations 
of this in the Epistles; in II. Corinthians, for example, 
and Galatians. Indeed, the Epistle to the Galatians 
was written with the avowed object of counteracting 
the mischief which was done among the Gentile 
churches of Galatia by Judaizing teachers, who ap- 
pear to have followed the Apostle for the express pur- 
pose of telling his converts that the Gospel he taught 
was not the genuine one. They did so by representing 
that St. Paul, who had never seen the Lord in the 
flesh, was no true Apostle, and that as the Church in 
Jerusalem, founded by James and Peter, who were 
true Apostles, had not laid aside the Jewish cere- 



1 50 SCENES EROM THE LJFE OF ST. PAUL. 

monial law, so there could be no salvation for the 
Gentiles save through the gate of Judaism. This 
teaching was exceedingly well fitted to sow dissension 
and disturb the peace of the Church ; but from some 
cause or other it seems to have been more successful 
among the Gentile Churches of Galatia than elsewhere. 
The tidings of this having reached the Apostle on one 
of his missionary journeys, he sat down at once, and 
composed his letter to the Galatians, which may, with 
advantage, be read here, as it throws much light on the 
real cause of that "dissension and disputation" at 
Antioch which led to the first general council of the 
Church. 

The object of this book is to bring before our 
readers the leading scenes in St. Paul's life, as they 
have been preserved to us in the Acts and the Epistles : 
we do not profess therefore to enter into the deeply- 
interesting and important question concerning the 
nature and object of the Apostle's writings. But it 
will be difficult to understand many of the scenes in 
St. Paul's life, and impossible to understand the rela- 
tion in which he stood to the other Apostles, if we do 
not have some notion of this controversy about the 
admission of the Gentiles to the Church. As the 
Epistle to the Galatians has a special biographical 
interest in connection with the scene from the Apostle's 
life which we are about to describe, it would be well 
to read it now, because it gives us the Apostle's own 
idea of the strife which made this first Council of 
Faith at Jerusalem necessary. The Epistle to the 
Galatians was written to counteract the efforts of those 
Judaizers who laboured incessantly to undermine the 



A COUNCIL Or FAITH. 151 

Apostle's influence over his Gentile converts. It con- 
tains a manly vindication of St. Paul's claim to be an 
Apostle of Christ, indignantly repudiates the notion 
that Peter and those having authority in the Church of 
Jerusalem had any right to control Paul's liberty of 
thought and action, and calls earnestly upon those 
who have tasted the blessedness of Christian freedom, 
not to be entangled again in the yoke of Jewish 
bondage. It is an earnest, affectionate letter, and 
shows what a living interest the writer took in all 
questions- relating to the unity, the freedom, and spiritu- 
ality of the Church. 

But, coming back to the dissensions and dis- 
cussions at Antioch, let us now trace the important 
results to which they gave birth. The Judaizing 
party, which was disturbing the peace of the Church 
when Paul and Barnabas returned from their mission- 
ary labours among the Gen dies, would not be any the 
less violent when the wonderful news of what the two 
missionaries had accomplished was made public. 
Accordingly, after a great deal of discussion, which 
failed to bring about any agreement, it was determined 
that Paul and Barnabas, with certain others, should 
go up to Jerusalem, unto the Apostles and elders, to 
obtain their opinion upon this much-vexed question. 
From the Epistle to the Galatians we learn that Titus 
formed part of this deputation. He was a Greek con- 
vert, and therefore a fit representative of those be- 
lievers who had not passed through the gate of Judaism, 
The three friends, " brought on their way by the Church, 
passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the 
conversion of the Gentiles," and filling the brethren 



152 SCENES PROM THE L1EE OE ST. PAUL. 

everywhere with great joy. Their way lay along the 
great Koman Road/ which followed the Phoenician 
coast line, and traces of which are still seen on the 
cliffs overhanging the sea; and thence through the 
midland districts of Samaria and Judsea to Jerusalem. 
When the deputies came to Jerusalem, it would seem 
that they held a private meeting with the leading 
memhers of the Church there, before the important 
question which had brought them thither was discussed 
openly. We can easily imagine that St. Peter, when 
he heard all that Paul and Barnabas had suffered and 
accomplished, praised God and took the part of the 
missionaries ; but others, it would appear, took a 
different view, maintaining that it was necessary the 
Gentiles should be circumcised and commanded to 
keep the Law of Moses ; thus it seemed doubtful, for 
a time, what the decision of the Church would be. 
But a large meeting was soon called. The Apostles, 
the elders, and the w r hole Church came together to 
consider the question. St. Peter was the first speaker. 
He began by reminding his hearers how God had de- 
termined a good while ago that the Gentiles through 
his mouth should hear the Gospel and believe ; and that 
God, who alone knew men's hearts, bore witness in, 
favour of the Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit 
even as he had given it to the Jewish disciples, thus 
purifying the hearts of both alike by faith, and putting 
no difference between them. The Apostle next went 
on to speak in strong terms of the bondage of the 
Jewish Law, and then indignantly asks his hearers 
why they should put a yoke upon the necks of the 
disciples, which neither their fathers nor themselves 



A COUNCIL OF FAITH. 153 

had been able to bear ? This address, delivered in the 
presence of the whole Church, must have had a marked 
effect on the minds of all present. But when Paul and 
Barnabas rose and gave an account of their mission, 
" declaring what miracles and wonders God had 
wrought among the Gentiles by them," the Judaizing 
party was silenced : no one could gainsay such facts. 
Then James, the brother of the Lord, a man held in 
much repute among the disciples, and himself a 
scrupulous observer of the Jewish Law, rose and spoke 
in favour of the larger freedom which Paul and Bar- 
nabas claimed for their Gentile converts. "Men and 
brethren," said he, " Simeon hath declared how God 
at first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a 
people for his name. And to this agree the words of 
the prophets: as it is written, 'After this I will return 
and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is 
fallen down, and I will build again the ruins thereof 
and I will set it up, that the residue of men might 
seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom 
my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all 
things/ Known unto God are all his works from the 
beginning of the world. Wherefore my sentence is, 
that we trouble not them who from among the Gen- 
tiles are turned unto God, but that we write unto them 
that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from 
fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 
For Moses of old time hath in every city them that 
preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sab- 
bath day." 

The Assembly fell in at once with this moderate 
compromise, and a letter was drawn up giving ex* 

H 3 



154 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

pression to it. Two men were chosen from the meeting, 
"Judas and Silas, chief men among the brethren/' to 
be the bearers of this letter, and to report to the 
Church at Antioch the important results of this 
council of faith. The letter they took with them was 
as follows :-— 

"The Apostles, and Elders, and Brethren, unto 
the brethren that are of the Gentiles in Antioch, and 
Syria, and Cilicia, send greeting. Forasmuch as we 
have heard, that certain persons who went out from us 
have troubled you by their words, and unsettled your 
minds, by bidding you be circumcised and keep the 
law, to whom we gave no such charge, it hath seemed 
good unto us, being assembled together with one 
accord, to send chosen men unto you, with our beloved 
Barnabas and Paul, men who have hazarded their 
lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have 
sent, therefore, Judas and Silas, who wdll also tell you 
the same things by word of mouth, that it hath seemed 
good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no 
greater burden than these necessary things : — That ye 
should abstain from things offered to idols, and from 
blood, and from things strangled, and from fornica- 
tion, from which if ye keep yourselves ye will do well. 
Fare ye well." 

In order to understand this letter, it is not necessary 
to believe that the ceremonial part of the compromise 
here come to was regarded as essential to salvation, or 
even to a true Christian life. St. Paul, in his Epistle 
to the Romans, gives it as his opinion that there is 
nothing unwholesome as food in itself clean ; but he 
charitably adds to this opinion that " to him who 



A COUNCIL OF FAITH. 155 

esteerneth anything to be unclean, to him it is un- 
clean." Hence he urges Christians not to wound, 
harshly and wantonly, one another's feelings about 
such matters, " for the kingdom of heaven is not meat 
and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in 
the Holy Spirit." If, then, the Jews and the Gentiles 
were to meet together as one body of believers in a 
common Lord, some forbearance in such matters was 
needed on both sides. There was no reason why the 
Gentile should be turned into a Jew, but as little 
should those feelings and habits which the faithful 
observance of the Mosaic Law had fostered in the Jew 
be widely broken in upon by Gentile customs. Be- 
sides, as has been well observed, " to the Gentiles 
themselves the restrictions were a merciful condition, 
for it helped them to disentangle themselves more 
easily from the pollutions connected with their idola- 
trous life. We are not merely concerned here with 
the question of social separation; the food which was a 
delicacy to the Gentile being abominated by the Jew. 
This controversy had an intimate connection with the 
principles of universal morality. The most shameless 
violations of purity took place in connection with the 
sacrifices and feasts celebrated in honour of Heathen 
divinities. Everything, therefore, which tended to 
keep the Gentile converts even from accidental or 
apparent associations with these scenes of vice, made 
their own recovery from pollution more easy, and 
enabled the Jewish converts to look on their Christian 
brethren with less suspicion and antipathy. This 
seems to be the reason why we find an acknowledged 
sin mentioned in the decree along with ceremonial 



156 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

observances which were meant to be only temporary 
and perhaps local. We must look on the whole sub- 
ject from the Jewish point of view, and consider how 
violations of morality and contradictions of the cere- 
monial law were associated together in the Gentile 
world." * 

The Jerusalem Council of Faith having so far 
settled this important controversy, Paul and his party, 
now increased by the deputation from Jerusalem, re- 
turned to Antioch. The church was speedily brought 
together, and the important letter from the council 
read in public, Judas and Silas giving what further 
explanations were needed. The reading of the letter 
gave great satisfaction, and for a time, at least, must 
have put to silence those Judaizers who had been 
destroying the peace of the church. The two deputies 
from Jerusalem, being also prophets or teachers, ex- 
horted the brethren at Antioch, and with many earnest 
words confirmed them in the faith. Then, after tarry- 
ing a short time, Judas returned to Jerusalem, but 
Silas remained with Paul. 

How long Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch 
before a second missionary journey was proposed we 
cannot say, but it would appear that they must have 
remained some considerable time. By most writers on 
the subject it is supposed, that St. Peter paid that 
memorable visit to Antioch at this time, of which we 
read in the Epistle to the Galatians. The Acts of the 
Apostles makes no allusion whatever to that visit, or to 
any dispute between St. Peter and St* Paul. "From 
the Epistle to the Galatians we learn that Peter went 
* Conybeare and Howson. 



A COUNCIL OF FAITH. 157 

down to Antioch to see the brethren there, and that 
after he was there he lived in Christian freedom with 
the Gentile converts ; eating at the same table with 
them, and acknowledging them as fellow-worshippers 
of the same God, in full harmony with his speech at 
the Jerusalem council. But when some who belonged 
to the more narrow Judaizing party came down from 
Jerusalem and found fault with him for so doing, he 
weakly withdrew from his new friends, and began to 
conform once more to the requirements of the Jewish 
Law. This was an unmistakable sign of that weak- 
ness which had caused him once before to deny his 
master. He was not the Apostle to the Gentiles, it is 
true, but he was the first Apostle who baptized a 
Gentile in the name of Jesus. He had stood up for 
freedom in the council at Jerusalem, and now when 
called upon to defend boldly both his principles and 
practice, he weakly abandoned them, and lent the 
support of his name to the Judaizing party. It is not 
to be wondered at, then, that St. Paul was indignant at 
him for so doiog, nor does it surprise us to read that 
the great Apostle to the Gentiles withstood Peter to 
the face because of this matter, for " he was to be 
blamed." Truly, he was to be blamed, and nothing 
was more likely to rouse the stern indignation of Paul 
than the weak vacillating conduct of Peter. We can 
well imagine, therefore, that St. Paul's rebuke would 
be a sharp one. It does not appear, however, that any 
actual quarrel took place between the two Apostles. 
It was the moral weakness of Peter that caused him to 
fall, and from all we know of his character, it seems 
not unlikely that he was at once convinced of his 



158 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

fault and moved to repentance. " His mind was easily 
susceptible of quick and sudden changes ; his disposi- 
tion was loving and generous ; and we should expect 
his contrition as well as his weakness at Antioch 
to be what it was in the high priest's house at 
Jerusalem. " * 

We have followed the majority of writers on this 
subject, in noticing this dispute between the two 
Apostles here. At the same time, we hardly think it 
possible that St. Peter could have gone to Antioch so 
soon after the Jerusalem Council of Faith and acted 
in the way he did. Besides, that council would serve 
to check, for a time, the influence of the Judaizers; 
thus rendering it more difficult to believe, that not only 
Peter, but even Barnabas, was led away by them so 
speedily. We are disposed to think, therefore, that 
it was at a subsequent visit of St. Paul to the Syrian 
capital that the scene described in the Epistle to the 
Galatians took place. Be that as it may, the fact of 
such a scene taking place between the two Apostles is 
in itself highly instructive. If St. Peter was so led 
away by the clamour of the Judaizing party as to 
shrink back to the bondage of the law, after he had 
tasted the freedom of the Gospel, and even Barnabas 
also was in danger of doing so, we need not wonder that 
St. Paul's life was oftentimes embittered, and his use- 
fulness marred by those who taught that Jewish cere- 
monies were necessary to salvation. Thus St. Paul 
becomes more and more the great representative of a 
spiritual Gospel. The narrowest of Jewish sects gave 
birth to the freest of Christian men ; but with all his 
* Conybeare and Howson. . . 



a corxcn or faith. 159 

love of individual liberty, no man ever yearned more 
for a united church than did the Apostle. The union 
he desired was based on broad comprehensive prin- 
ciples. The Jew might remain a Jew, esteeming one 
day above another if he liked, provided he was fully 
persuaded in his own mind; but the Gentile need not 
come under the intolerable burden of the Jewish cere- 
monial law, for " in Christ Jesus neither circumcision 
availed anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new crea- 
ture.'' This noble faith found a fitting representative 
in the great Apostle to the Gentiles, through whom, 
under Divine Providence, the Christian Church broke 
awav from its Jewish trammels and became free. 



ki Thou, whose Almighty word 
Chaos and darkness heard, 

And took their flight ! 
Hear us, we humbly pray, 
And where the gospel day 
Sheds not its glorious ray, 

Let there be light ! 

Thou, who didst come to bring 
On thy redeeming wing, 

Healing and sight ! 
Health to the sick in mind, 
Sight to the inly blind, 
0, now to all mankind, 

Let there be light ! 

Descend thou from above, 
Spirit of truth and love, 

Speed on thy flight ! 
Move o'er the waters' face, 
Spirit of hope and grace, 
And in earth's darkest place 

Let there be light ! " 



Marriot. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY. 

The important question relating to the admission of 
the Gentiles to the church being for the present 
settled, the Apostle began to have yearnings to revisit 
the churches which he and Barnabas had founded on 
their first missionary journey. St. Paul, therefore, 
proposed to Barnabas that they should go again and 
visit their brethren in every city where they had 
preached the word of the Lord, that they might see 
how they were doing. Barnabas at once agreed to do 
so, and was preparing to accompany Paul, when an 
unpleasant cause of disagreement arose between these 
two good men. Our readers will remember that Mark 
went with them on their first journey as far as Perga 
in Pamphylia; but either growing home-sick, or 
shrinking from the danger and the toil which lay 
before him, he left his two friends and returned to 
Jerusalem. He probably repented of having done so, 
and was now anxious to redeem his character. At all 
events, he wanted to form one of the party on the 
second journey. Barnabas, who was bound to Mark 
by the ties of strong natural affection, was disposed to 
look, if not leniently on his former faint- heartedness, 



162 SCENES PROM THE LIEE OE ST. PAUL. 

at least hopefully to the future ; hut Paul could not 
hear to think that one who had left them before in the 
way Mark had done, should he again taken with them. 
So a contention arose between Paul and Barnabas, 
which became so warm " that they departed asunder 
one from the other/' Barnabas took Mark and sailed 
unto Cyprus; Paul chose Silas, and being recom- 
mended by the brethren unto the grace of God, went a 
different way. • 

From the little we know of this dispute between tw r o 
men, for both of whom we entertain a profound respect, 
it would be foolish to form any very strong opinion as 
to which was the more right. The quarrel, and the 
cause which led to it, are both very natural, and help 
us to feel that these men, great and good though they 
were, were not perfect. About Barnabas we hear 
nothing more that can be relied upon, unless, indeed, 
we are right in supposing that it was when St. Paul 
returned from the second journey he met St. Peter at 
Antioch. If that were so, then Barnabas and Paul 
must have met in Antioch once more, but our evidence 
for this is too slight to assume that they did so 
meet. A tradition speaks of Barnabas as being stoned 
to death by the Jews in Salamis shortly after he landed 
in Cyprus, and of his urging Mark to go at once and 
join Paul. This is not much to be relied on, and in 
the absence of all real knowledge it would be useless 
to speculate on whether Paul and Barnabas ever met 
again and were reconciled to each other or not. But 
if this knowledge is denied us in the case of Barnabas, 
it is not in that of Mark. We know from St. Paul's 
Epistles that Mark subsequently became very useful 



THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY. 163 

to the Apostle, and, years afterwards, when a prisoner 
in Eome, he wrote to Timothy, saying, " Take Mark, 
and bring him with you, for he is profitable to me in 
the ministry." 

It would seem that Barnabas and Mark left Antioch 
before Paul. Barnabas went to Cyprus, his native 
place, and it would only have been carrying their per- 
sonal quarrel into the churches they had planted if 
Paul had gone in the same direction. He wisely, 
therefore, directed his course a new way. Leaving to 
Barnabas the work of visiting the churches in Cyprus, 
Paul resolved to undertake, at once, the more difficult 
task of visiting Asia Minor. Instead of sailing to 
Attalia, and travelling through the mountain passes of 
Pisidia to Antioch, he went by land through Cilicia. 
The account which St. Luke gives of the early part of 
this journey is so brief, that we neither know what 
places the Apostle visited nor how long time was 
spent on the journey. We are informed, however, that 
Paul and Silas went through Syria and Cilicia, con- 
firming the churches as they went. If our readers 
look at the map, they will see that the two mission- 
aries must have gone first north, and then west, either 
passing through Tarsus or very near to it. There 
were churches in Cilicia, and no place was more likely 
to have one than Tarsus. The Apostle had an im- 
portant letter to read to the Churches of Cilicia from 
the Church in Jerusalem, and Silas was the represen- 
tative of that church ; hence it is not likely that they 
would omit a place of so much importance as Tarsus. 
This is only conjecture. The great object which the 
Apostle had in view when he left Antioch was, to visit 



164 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

the churches which he and Barnabas had planted in 
the wilder regions of Asia Minor. 

In a former chapter, we abridged an interesting 
account of the difficulties which must have attended 
the journey from Perga, in Pamphylia, to Antioch, in 
Pisidia, from the work of Messrs. Conybeare and 
Howson. On the second journey, the Apostle sought 
to gain the high table land of Asia Minor by a 
different and a less-dangerous route. Going through 
Cilicia, he would probably take the Eoman road 
which connected Antioch, in Syria, with Ephesus, 
traces of which are still visible. If so, he would pass 
from the sunny plains of Cilicia through a gorge in 
the mountains called the " Cicilian Gates." This 
pass was- known afterwards to the crusaders by a 
more awful name, and one which to them at least was 
more suggestive of its dangers, " the Gates of Judas." 
In some places, going through these " Gates," the road 
contracts to a width barely sufficient to allow more 
than one chariot to pass. Bare limestone cliffs, 
several hundred feet high, frown on either side. A 
canopy of fir trees is high overhead, while the streams 
which descend to the Cydnus are close by the road, 
and here and there undermine it or wash over it. 
When the higher and more distant of these streams 
are left behind, the road emerges upon an open and 
elevated region four thousand feet above the level of 
the sea. This space of high land may be considered 
as dividing the whole mountain journey into two parts ; 
for, when it is passed, the streams are seen to flow in 
a new direction. Not that we have attained the point 
where the highest land of Asia Minor turns the waters 



THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY. 165 

north and south. The torrents which are seen descend- 
ing to the right are merely the tributaries of the Saras, 
another river of Cilicia. The road is conducted north- 
wards through this new ravine ; and again the rocks 
close in upon it, with steep naked cliffs among cedars 
and pines. When the highest peaks of Taurus are 
left behind, the road to Tyana is continued in the, 
same northerly direction, while that to Iconium takes 
a turn to the left and passes among wooded slopes 
with rocky projections, and over ground compara- 
tively level, to the great Lycaonian plain. The 
whole journey to Konieh (Iconium) is enough, in 
modern times, to occupy four laborious days ; and, 
from the nature of the ground, the time required can 
never have been much less. The road, however, was 
doubtless more carefully maintained in the time of St. 
Paul than at the present day, when it is only needed 
for Tartar couriers and occasional traders.* The 
journey, therefore, though not without its toils and its 
perils, was an easier and a safer one than through 
the mountain passes of Pisidia. 

The Apostle and his companion came first to Derbe, 
the place he visited last on his former journey. We 
may imagine what the joy of the converts he had left 
there would be at seeing his face once more; but St. 
Luke, who seldom dwells on such scenes, has simply 
recorded the fact that Derbe was the first place re- 
visited. From Derbe, Paul and Silas went to Lystra, 
a place memorable from the fact that the fickle inhabi- 
tants first sought to worship Paul and Barnabas as 
gods, and afterwards, at the instigation of the Jews 

* Conybeare and Howson. 



166 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

who came from Iconium and Antioch, stoned Paul and 
left him for dead. On the second visit of the iVpostle, 
Lystra became the scene of a much more joyful event. 
Here he was joined by one who ever afterwards occu- 
pied a very high place in his affections. It would 
appear that among the converts made on St. Paul's 
first visit to Lystra was one Eunice, a Jewess, who was 
married to a Greek. She was a devout woman ; for 
though she married beyond the pale of her own reli- 
gion, she had not forgotten the God of her fathers. 
Her son Timothy was trained from his childhood to 
be familiar with the sacred Scriptures. He, too, em- 
braced the new faith, and, during St. Paul's absence, 
he appears to have been so zealous and consistent an 
advocate of it, that he was much thought of and well 
reported of by the brethren who were at Lystra and 
Iconium. There must have been something in the 
young man's manner — or, perhaps it was the great 
earnestness which he had displayed — that won the 
Apostle's heart ; for he yearned to take Timothy 
under his charge, and so prepare him to labour in a 
wider field. At all events we know that, at St. Paul's 
earnest desire, Timothy agreed to go forth with him, 
and share his dangers and difficulties in the cause of 
Christ. 

But a difficulty presented itself in the way of carry- 
ing out this proposition, in the fact that Timothy, 
though the son of a Jewess and carefully brought up 
in the knowledge of the law and the prophets, had 
nevertheless not been admitted within the pale of 
Judaism by the rite of circumcision. He would, 
therefore, be regarded by the Jews generally as an 



THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY. 167 

alien. It formed no part of St. Paul's policy need- 
lessly to offend the Jews by flying in the face of all 
that they deemed sacred. We have seen how he stood 
tip for the spiritual freedom of the Gentiles on a for- 
mer occasion. We know, too, that he regarded cir- 
cumcision as a matter of no moment, yet he circum- 
cised Timothy before he made him the companion of 
his labours, " because of the Jews which were in those 
quarters, for they all knew that his father was a 
Greek," * Some have found fault with the Apostle for 
this, representing it as a weak compliance with a 
Jewish form merely to please his countrymen. To us 
it seems rather that St. Paul acted here in a way that 
was quite in harmony with the broad principles he 
subsequently laid down in his Epistle to the Eomans. 
By this act, it became possible for Timothy to become 
the companion of Paul ; for, as has been well observed, 
" Had Timothy not been circumcised, a storm would 
have gathered round the Apostle in his further pro- 
gress. The Jews, who were ever ready to persecute 
him from city to city, would have denounced him still 
more violently in every synagogue, when they saw in 
his personal preferences, and in the co-operation he 
most valued, a visible revolt against the law of his 
forefathers. Even in the bosom of the Church we 
have seen the difficulties which had recently been raised 
by scrupulousness and bigotry on this very subject. 
And the difficulties would have been increased ten- 
fold in the untrodden field before St. Paul, by his pro- 
claiming everywhere that circumcision was abolished. 
His fixed line of procedure was to act on the cities 

* Acts xyi. i. 



168 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

through the synagogues, and to preach the Gospel first 
to the Jew and then to the Gentile. He had no in- 
tention of abandoning this method, and we know that 
he continued it for many years. But such a course 
would have been impossible had not Timothy been 
circumcised. The very intercourse of social life 
would have been hindered and made almost impossible 
by the presence of a half-heathen companion." * Be- 
fore Timothy could take part, therefore, in a mission 
that was common to the Jews and the Gentiles, it was, 
above all things, necessary that he should be prepared 
to meet the Jews on that common ground which his 
birth and education fitted him to occupy. Hence St. 
Paul had a good reason for acting in the way he did ; 
and even for one who had stood up so bravely for the 
freedom of the Gentiles, there was no inconsistency in 
the part he thus took, when we take into account the 
relation in which he stood to the Jews as well as to 
the Gentiles. 

Whether the Apostle and his companions visited 
Antioch in Pisidia at this time, or not, does not seem 
certain. We think it hardly possible that he could have 
gone so near to the scene of his former labours without 
carrying out the desire that led him forth on his second 
journey, of visiting the " brethren in every city where 
he had preached the Word." But St. Luke only men- 
tions Derbe and Lystra as the places revisited. Iconium 
also is mentioned as one of the places where the bre- 
thren had a good report to give of Timothy ; hence, it 
is generally assumed that Iconium was revisited. 
Where the information given is so vague, it would be 

* Conybeare and Howson. 



THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY. 169 

absurd to form any very decided opinion on the matter. 
At the same time, knowing the purpose with which the 
Apostle set out, it seems hardly possible to believe 
that he came so near to Antioch in Pisidia without 
seeing those converts who had so gladly received the 
Word of Truth from him on his former visit. 

Be that as it may, it cannot be denied that a great 
uncertainty hangs over the Apostle's route after leaving 
Derbe and Lystra. Indeed, regarding the whole of the 
early part of this second journey, St. Luke's information 
seems to have been very scant. The most reasonable 
conjecture seems to be, that Paul and Silas went as far 
as Antioch, and read the letter drawn up by the Jeru- 
salem council, to all the churches in Lycaonia and 
Pisidia planted by Paul and Barnabas in the former 
journey. When this had been accomplished, Paul and 
Silas came back to Iconium, from which place, joined 
by Timothy, they started on a new missionary enter- 
prise. They went throughout Phrygia and the region 
of Galatia. This was the Apostle's first visit to 
Galatia, and on this occasion he must have founded 
most of those churches to which he subsequently sent 
his Epistle to the Galatians. The Galatians were a 
remarkable people, and very different from the inha- 
bitants of Asia Minor generally. They were impulsive, 
warm-hearted, and fickle in their character. They 
appear to have received the Apostle more warmly than 
any people among whom he had yet travelled. Thus, 
in his letter, he reminds them of the reception they 
had given him, in words winch show that it had made 
too deep an impression on his mind to be easily for- 
gotten. " Ye know that through my infirmity of the 

I 



170 SCENES -FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

flesh/' says he, "I preached the Gospel unto you at 
the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh 
ye despised not, nor rejected, but received me as an 
angel from God, even as Jesus Christ. Where is then 
the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, 
if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out 
your own eyes and have given them to me." Never- 
theless, this people, so ready to receive the Apostle, 
were fickle, i( carried about by every wind of doctrine/' 
and therefore peculiarly liable to be led away by the 
Judaizers, who tracked the footsteps of St. Paul, and 
tried to turn aside his converts from the freedom of 
the Gospel to the bondage of the Law. 

It is very singular how races of men preserve their 
peculiarities amid circumstances entirely different from 
those in which they were formed. The cold of a 
Canadian winter does not whiten the skin of the negro ; 
and many facts in history seem to prove that mental 
peculiarities are even less liable to change than phy- 
sical. The Galatians were not the original inhabitants 
of the district to which they gave their name. They 
were a colony of Gauls, — the same race that peopled 
France, and that the Romans found in England when 
they first came here. The ancient name of France 
was Gaul, and the Epistle to the Galatians would be 
just as correctly translated the Epistle to the Gauls. 
The history of that movement, which ended in the 
establishment of a colony of Gauls in Asia Minor, 
would carry us far beyond the limits of our subject. 
It is sufficient if we notice the fact that such a move- 
ment did take place about three centuries before the 
birth of Christ. The Gauls of Asia Minor had, in the 



THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY. 17-1 

days of the Apostle, acquired the language and many 
of the arts and customs of the Greeks ; though it 
seems probable that they had neither quite forgotten 
their Celtic tongue, nor abandoned altogether their 
Druidical superstitions. It is supposed, too, that large 
numbers of Jews had settled amongst them, and that- 
many of them were proselytes to Judaism at the time 
when St. Paul visited them : the whole tone of the 
Apostle's letter to them seems to imply as much. 
This accounts for the influence which the Judaizers 
gained over them, when he who begot them in the faith 
was no longer present amongst them. But whether 
that were so or not, all that the Apostle says about 
the warmth of his first reception among the Galatians, 
and the eagerness with which they desired to render him 
all the service in their power, is in singular harmony 
with what we know, from other sources, of the character 
and peculiarities of the Celtic nations. Nay, in the 
very qualities less praiseworthy which the Apostle's 
letter attributes to the Galatians, we find quite as 
striking an illustration of the race from which they 
sprung. 

It is generally inferred, from the passage we have 
already quoted, that the Apostle had an illness in 
Galatia. " Ye know," he says, "how through infirmity 
of the flesh I preached the Gospel unto you firsts 
This may mean, " Ye know that through an illness I 
first preached unto you;" and the majority of critics 
seem to regard it in that light. But a mere illness would 
have excited the sympathy of the Galatians without 
astonishing the Apostle. When he goes on to say, 
therefore, " My temptation which was in my flesh ye 

I 2 



172 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

despised not, nor rejected, but received me as an angel 
of God," it seems to imply that it was no ordinary ill- 
ness, but some physical weakness to which he was 
alluding. Some have thought that a defect in the 
eyesight, which at times produced almost total blind- 
ness, was the cause from which the Apostle suffered 
when he first preached the Gospel among the Gala- 
tians ; and his own phrase, " Ye would have plucked 
out your own eyes and have given them to me," seems 
to lend a colouring to this supposition. This is a very 
difficult question. St. Luke does not in the least help 
us to solve it; and the vague hints in the Epistles are 
only sufficient to excite curiosity, and leave an almost 
boundless field for speculation. There is some reason 
to suppose, then, that the Apostle was not alluding to 
a bodily illness, in the usual sense of the word, when 
he referred to that infirmity of the flesh through 
which he was first led to preach the Gospel in Galatia, 
but to that depression of spirit and feebleness of 
bodily presence, which may also have been attended 
with weakness in the eyes, to which he refers so many 
times in his Epistles. It is never very safe to rely 
on tradition, when we form opinions regarding the 
personal appearance of the Apostles and their contem- 
poraries ; but when, as in the case of St. Paul, those 
traditions harmonize with all we can learn from more 
reliable sources, they have a presumptive evidence in 
their favour which gives them an air of probability, at 
least. For though it should be maintained that these 
more reliable sources are the sources of the traditions 
themselves, yet the very fact that the same inferences 
have been drawn from them in all ages, is no small 



THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY. 173 

part of their confirmation. By all accounts, then, the 
Apostle was a man of weak bodily presence, and sub- 
ject to some infirmity which had a tendency to bring 
him into contempt among men. The Galatians did 
not despise him, even though that infirmity was so 
great as to arrest his progress on the first occasion 
that he visited them. Their kindness was never for- 
gotten. The epistle to the Galatians overflows with 
a noble tenderness. The fickleness of his converts 
vexes him, and his ardent nature flashes forth in indig- 
nation against those false teachers who made Christ 
of no avail by their Gospel of Circumcision. Thus, 
though St. Luke has said not a word about the result 
of this first visit to Galatia, nor even so much as men- 
tioned the places visited, yet none of St. Paul's Gen- 
tile converts stand out before us in a clearer light than 
do the Galatians sketched for us in the Apostle's own 
Epistle. 



" Onward speed thy conquering flight, 
Cast abroad thy radiant light, 
Bid the shades recede : 
Tread the idols in the dust, 
Heathen fanes destroy, 
Spread the gospel's love and trust, 
Spread the gospel's joy. 

Onward speed thy conquering flight, 

Long has been the reign of night, 

Bring the morning nigh. 

Now the Lord his kingdom takes, 

Thrones and empires fall, 

And the joyous song awakes, 

Gfod is all in all." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

"COME OYER AXD HELP US." 

It is not easy to say what course St. Paul and his 
companions, Silas and Timothy, took when they left 
Galatia. St. Luke says that "they were forbidden, 
of the Holy Spirit, to preach the Word in Asia; and, 
after they were come to Mysia. they essayed to go into 
Bithynia, hut the Spirit suffered them not. And, 
passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas." Great 
uncertainty hangs over the words Asia, ilvsia, and 
Bithynia. In the Apostle's day they were used popu- 
larly in a very vague way, though they had a more 
restricted political sense. It is evident that they are 
used vaguely in the narrative of the Acts : hence it is 
almost impossible to trace the early part of the journey 
from Galatia to Troas. We know only that the three 
missionaries did not rest long in one place ; that they 
were sometimes in doubt with regard to the road they 
should pursue next, and sought the guidance of the 
Divine Spirit. They probably, however, kept to the roads 
by which the larger towns and cities were connected, 
and, as they were travelling towards the west, they 
may have had some thoughts of visiting Ephesus, when 
the Spirit forbade them to preach the Word in Asia; 



176 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

for by Asia is most likely meant the western portion of 
Asia Minor. However, we know that they did not 
visit Ephesus on this occasion ; for, by an irresistible 
impulse which seemed to lead them on, they came to 
Troas. 

If you look at the map, you will see what an im- 
portant event, in the life of the Apostle, must have 
been his coming to Troas. As yet, the actual preach- 
ing of the new faith had been confined to Asia. Europe, 
where it was destined to bring forth its noblest fruits, 
may have heard the glad tidings proclaimed by some 
chance convert, whom business had called to one of 
its many cities; but there is no reason to believe that, 
up till this time, it had become the scene of missionary 
labours. The Apostle and his two friends came to 
Troas, aj>parently undecided as to whither they should 
next turn their steps, but resolved to go whithersoever 
the Spirit of God should direct them. Troas was a 
seaport, and looking across the blue waters of the 
iEgean sea the Apostle might behold, rising in the 
distance, Mount Athos, the nearest European land. 
We may imagine what thoughts were uppermost in 
his mind on the evening he came to Troas, from the 
nature of the vision which he had in the night. It is 
impossible to believe that he had not been anxiously 
pondering as to the direction in which his steps should 
next be turned. And while so engaged, might he not 
reasonably ask himself whether it were God's will that 
he should bear witness, for the cross of Christ, in that 
European land which he now, probably, saw for the 
first time, as the sun set beyond the mountains of 
Macedonia ? His mind thus prepared by meditation 



" COME OVER AND HELP US." 177 

and prayer, he retired to rest; and, in the night, he 
dreamed that a man from Macedonia stood by his 
bedside, "and prayed him, saying, ' Come over into 
Macedonia, and help us/ " The Apostle was not the 
man to hesitate when the path of duty was revealed to 
him. He now saw the reason why he had not been 
permitted to preach the Word in Asia and Bithynia. 
The vision of the Macedonian by night praying for 
help was, to the zealous missionary, a divine call to 
a new field where God needed an earnest labourer. 
Accordingly, no time was lost in responding to the call. 
St. Luke says, "Immediately after he had seen the 
vision, we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly 
gathering that the Lord had called us to preach the 
Gospel there/' 

The careful reader of the Acts of the Apostles is 
sure to be struck with the fact that, at this part of the 
narrative, the writer begins to use the personal pronoun 
We, implying that he now became one of the missionary 
band. Of the personal history of St. Luke not much 
is known. He is said to have been a native of Antioch, 
in Syria, and converted by St. Paul soon after the 
Apostle first went there. That he was, by profession, 
a physician, seems pretty certain ; for his writings in- 
dicate that their author had a professional knowledge 
of disease; and St. Paul, on one occasion, speaks of 
his fellow labourer, Luke, the beloved physician. How 
he and Paul came to meet at Troas we cannot tell \ but 
that Luke did not form one of the missionary band 
before they sailed for Macedonia is very certain. The 
use of the pronoun We, in the narrative, would itself be 
conclusive ; but there is stronger evidence than that in 



178 SCENES EJIOM THE LITE OF ST. PAUL. 

the difference of style which the careful reader will be 
sure to note here in the history. The early part of 
St., Paul's second missionary journey is passed over in 
a very few words. The writer barely indicates the 
places visited, and tells us nothing whatever of the 
hardships and dangers the Apostle must have en- 
countered before he reached Troas. But the voyage 
across the iEgean, though in itself unimportant, is de- 
scribed with a minuteness of detail which at once places 
it in marked contrast with the preceding part of the 
narrative. None but an eye-witness could have written, 
" Loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course 
to Samothrace." And a writer, so minute as to indicate 
whether the vessel sailed in a straight course, on such 
a brief voyage, where nothing of any importance to the 
history occurred, could hardly have crowded months of 
eventful travel into a few lines, had he formed one of 
the travelling party. Thus, we think, there can be 
little doubt that Luke and Paul met at Troas, if not 
for the first time in their lives, at least for the first time 
on this missionary journey. It is generally supposed 
that St. Luke was practising his profession, either in 
Troas or on board one of the many vessels which sailed 
between Troas and Europe. The latter supposition we 
think the more likely, because a careful examination 
of the writings of Luke not only show that he had a 
professional knowledge of disease, but a very consider- 
able acquaintance with a seafaring life, and the lan- 
guage used by sailors in describing the various parts 
of a ship. But, whatever business may have brought 
Luke to Troas at this time is of small matter to us, in 
comparison with the fact that the Apostle and his 



" COME OVER AND HELP US." 179 

biographer met here, and became/ for. a short time at 
least, companions in a common toil. 

Leaving Troas, probably the morning after the 
Apostle had seen the vision, they sailed, with a fair 
wind, to Samothrace, where they anchored for the night, 
and the next day they were landed safely at Neapolis. 
Here the Apostle, for the first time, set foot on Euro- 
pean soil. The exact position of the port at which 
they landed is a matter of some doubt, but this is of 
small consequence, for the missionaries spent no time 
there, but proceeded at once to Pbilippi. The distance 
between the two towns could not have been great, and 
we know, from other sources, that they were connected 
by a good roach 

Pbilippi was a Bom an colony, and a city of great 
importance in the district, thus proving the minute 
accuracy of St. Luke, on all matters which came under 
his own observation. This habit of careful observation 
and minute accuracy will by-and-by be of great service 
to us when we come to speak of the Apostle's ship- 
wreck and journey to Borne; but even here it invests 
the narrative of St. Luke with an air of reality which 
every thoughtful reader must feel. The city of Pbilippi 
was founded by and called after the father of Alexander 
the Great. It had been the scene of many stirring events, 
and on the neighbouring plain was fought the great 
battle which decided the fate of the Boman republic. 
By a Boman colony was meant a city governed by the 
same laws as Borne, and whose citizens enjoyed all the 
same privileges as Boman citizens. The language 
spoken by the leading citizens of Pbilippi would be 
Latin, and the inscriptions on the coins would be in 



180 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

the same tongue. In short, the city would be a kind 
of little Eome. But Philippi was a military station 
rather than a trading city : hence there were not many 
Jews there ; so few indeed that there was no synagogue, 
but only one of those buildings called Proseuchse, 
which were distinguished from the regular places of 
Jewish worship by being of a more slight and tem- 
porary structure, and frequently open to the sky. For 
the sake of quietness, and in order probably that the 
worshippers might be free from interruption, this place 
of prayer was outside the city gates. In consequence, 
also, of the constant use of water in connection with 
the services, it was placed by the side of the river. 

On the Sabbath day, after having spent several days 
in Philippi, St. Paul and his friends went to this place, 
" where prayer was wont to be made." The congre- 
gation was composed almost, if not entirely, of women, 
and the Apostle, as was his wont, began to speak. 
This was the first time he had proclaimed the glad 
tidings in Europe. His European labours therefore 
had a humble beginning, but the work so begun was 
not to cease till the very strongholds of heathen 
Europe were baptized with the name of Christ. Among 
the worshippers in the proseucha at Philippi was a 
woman named Lydia, of the city of Thyatira, in Asia 
Minor, who listened to the words of the Apostle 
with deepest attention. The city of Thyatira was 
celebrated, and indeed is to this day celebrated, for its 
purple dye, and Lydia was a seller of purple. The 
Apostle's address having moved her heart to conviction 
she was baptized with her household. The earnest- 
ness and sincerity of her conversion were borne witness 



" COME OYER AND HELP US." 181 

to by her hospitality. " If ye have judged me to be 
faithful to the Lord/' said she to the Apostle and his 
companions, " come into my house and abide." Nay, 
" she constrained us," adds St. Luke; in other words 
she would take no denial, so the missionaries made 
her house their home while they continued in Philippi. 
Thus, though there were probably not many converts 
made at first in the Eoman colony of Philippi, all 
seemed to be smooth for the Apostles; but soon an 
incident occurred w r hich proved that the calm was only 
on the surface. It came to pass, as the Apostles were 
going to the place of prayer by the river's side, that 
a young woman, possessed with a spirit of divination, 
or prophecy, who brought much gain to her masters 
by soothsaying or fortune-telling, followed after St. 
Paul and his companions, crying, " These men are the 
servants of the Most High God, who show unto us 
the way of salvation." This poor girl had probably 
either heard the Apostle preach, or in passing heard 
some such sentence fall from his lips, and it was quite 
in keeping with the wandering character of her mind 
to repeat over and over again what she had so heard. 
According to the superstitious notions of those times, 
some kinds of insanity were regarded with awe, because 
it was believed that they originated in a higher state 
of the mental powers. Women such as this poor 
creature who followed Paul were consulted by men of 
education, even in those days, on matters of great 
moment. And in our own day there are Christians 
who believe that such women were really under the 
influence of evil spirits. It is impossible to believe 
that such was the case in this instance, for the words 



182 SCENES ER031 THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

she uttered were much more likely to call attention to 
the Apostles, and make the ignorant multitude respect 
their cause, than to have the opposite effect. The 
young woman was probably encouraged by her masters 
thus to follow the Apostle, for she continued it several 
days. In the first place, it was calling attention to her 
own mental state, and thus helping to make her voca- 
tion better known ; in the second place, the Apostle 
and his friends were known to be Jews, and the 
Romans were partial to Jewish soothsayers. The poor 
woman's mysterious pursuit of Paul might, not unrea- 
sonably, lead the ignorant multitude to believe that she 
had some connection with these Jewish strangers. The 
Apostle was grieved for her, and at last, finding that 
she would not desist, he turned round sharply on her, 
and rebuking the spirit which, according to the notions 
of those days, he believed had taken possession of her 
mind, he commanded it in the name of the Lord Jesus 
to come out of her, " and it came out of her." In 
other words she was restored to her right mind. Her 
masters finding the hope of their gains thus cut away, 
laid hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them before 
the magistrates, saying, " These men, being Jews, do 
exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs which 
are not lawful for us to receive, being Romans." But a 
short time before this, the Emperor Claudius had issued 
a decree expelling the Jews from Rome, because of a 
tumult they had raised in the city. There was, there- 
fore, a deeper meaning in the charge, " these men 
being Jews," than appears at first sight. If imperial 
Rome had risen up against the Jews, surely it did not 
become those cities whose highest ambition was to 



u COME OVER ANB HELP US." 183 

imitate her to be very lenient towards them. There 
was evidently much excitement in the court. The tide 
of popular feeling ran high, and, as a matter of course, 
it was against the Apostles and in favour of the men 
who made gain of the poor girl's delusions. The 
magistrates, carried away by the excitement, rent off 
the clothes of Paul and Silas, and commanded them 
to be beaten with rods. '*' And when they had laid many 
stripes upon them they cast them into prison, charging 
the jailer to keep them safely." The jailer received 
his charge, and in obedience to the charge he had re- 
ceived, thrust the two bleeding prisoners into "the 
inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks/' 

Our readers may picture in their own minds the 
feelings with which Luke and Timothy must have wit- 
nessed part, at least, of the scene here so vividly 
brought before us by the description of the former, 
and also how the two prisoners must have felt as they 
sat in the inner prison. But a signal deliverance was 
at hand ; for at midnight, as the other prisoners were 
astonished to hear Paul and Silas praying and singing 
hymns of praise to God, an earthquake shook the 
prison to its very foundation, so that all the doors were 
thrown open and every man's bands were loosed. The 
jailer awoke in fear, and seeing all the doors open, his 
first thought naturally was, that the prisoners had 
escaped; and to avoid the public disgrace and shame- 
ful death which awaited him had that been the case > he 
was about to fall on his sword and kill himself. But, 
in the dark, Paul heard him, and partly guessing his 
purpose, cried with a loud voice, " Do thyself no*harm, 
we are all here/' Lights were immediately procured, 



184 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

and finding that all was as the Apostle had said, the poor 
man, awe-struck, fell in fear and trembling at the feet 
of Paul and Silas, saying, " Sirs, what must I do to be 
saved ?" By this question the jailer may only have meant 
what must I do for present safety ? But the answer of 
Paul leads us to believe that there was a higher mean- 
ing in it. The young woman who had followed the 
Apostle about for days, crying after him, " These men 
are the servants of the most high God, who show unto 
us the way of salvation/' had probably familiarized the 
minds of many persons in the city with the religious 
character of the Apostle's mission. The scene in the 
prison was well calculated to strike awe into the mind 
of the heathen jailer. He felt that he had exposed 
himself to the anger of some higher Power than that 
of a Eoman magistrate, and regarding Paul and Silas 
as in some sense the representatives of that Power, 
the question he put came naturally, "What must I do 
to be saved?'' The answer of the Apostle was ready. 
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
saved and thy house." The missionaries felt that now 
was the fitting time to make an impression, so they 
began at once to expound the great doctrines of Chris- 
tianity. The scene must have been a striking one ; 
and when once our minds lay hold of it, we are not very 
likely to forget the impression it makes. In the inner 
dungeon of the prison at Philippi sat the two Christian 
teachers, their clothes rent and their backs bleeding, 
patiently expounding the Gospel of Christ to the won- 
dering jailer. Whether any of the other prisoners 
were present or not, we are not informed, but it is pos- 
sible that there may have been more than the jailer 



"COME OYER AND HELP US." 185 

and his household present. Then, in the fulness of his 
heart, the jailer took them and washed their stripes, 
and afterwards he and his household were baptized. 

In the morning the magistrates sent the sergeants 
to the prison to tell the jailer to set the prisoners at 
liberty. The magistrates had, probably, begun to feel 
that they had acted with a haste and a passion unworthy 
of Eonian judges, and now wished to hush up the 
matter as quietly as they could. The jailer, delighted 
to hear that his friends were so soon to be set free, ran 
into their presence, saying, (i the magistrates have sent 
to let you go, now therefore depart in peace." But Paul 
was in no mood to accept liberty on such terms. He 
was a Eoman citizen, and it seems probable that Silas 
could claim the same privilege ; they had been beaten 
with rods and cast into prison by a Eoman magistrate, in 
defiance of the law. They were determined to plead their 
own rights, and would not go forth without a sufficient 
apology. Such a lesson might teach the magistrates 
to be more careful in the future. So they sent back 
word with the sergeants, saying, "Let them come and 
fetch us," The magistrates, hearing that the men 
they had beaten were Eoman citizens, now became 
thoroughly alarmed. They had been acting the day 
before on the mistaken notion that they wore deal- 
ing with unprivileged Jews, who could not appeal 
to any higher tribunal against them; but the whole 
aspect of the case was changed now, when they dis- 
covered that they had been dealing thus barbarously 
with Eoman citizens. The magistrates came, therefore, 
in haste to the prison, and begged the two prisoners to 
come out and depart from the city. The Apostle was 



186 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

not vindictive — he wanted justice; his end was pro- 
bably gained by teaching the magistrates of Philippi 
that even apparently defenceless strangers should be 
respected in a court of justice. Paul and Silas, there- 
fore, being entreated of the magistrates, came out of 
prison, and finding that the excitement was too great 
to permit them to begin teaching again witli safety, 
they took a hurried farewell of their friends, promising 
to come soon again and see them : and departed on the 
road to Thessalonica. This promise they were not able 
to keep, because new dangers were in store for them ; 
but it is satisfactory to know that the society, founded 
by the Apostle during his short stay in Philippi, soon 
became an important centre of Christian activity. And 
from none of the Churches planted by the Apostle 
did he receive more substantial tokens of gratitude and 
love than from the Philippians. The letter he wrote to 
them, when a prisoner in Eome, affords a touching 
illustration of this fact. 



CHAPTER XV. 



THESSALOXICA ASD BEEEA. 



" Jesus shall reign where'er the sun 
Doth his successive journeys run ; 
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more. 

People and realms of every tongue 
Dwell on his love with sweetest song ; 
And infant voices shall proclaim 
Their early blessings on his name. 

Joy shall abound where'er he reigns ; 
The prisoner leap to lose his chains ; 
The weary find eternal rest, 
And all the sons of want be blest." 



Watts. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THESSALONICA AND BEREA. 

It would appear that Paul and Silas left Philippi alone, 
for no mention is made of Timothy again till we come 
to Berea; and St. Luke no longer speaks in the first 
person, or writes as one who was an eye-witness of the 
the things he describes. The probability is, that his 
profession called him back to Troas, or detained him 
in the neighbourhood of Philippi, for we find him 
again, sailing from Philippi to Troas, where he joined 
the Apostle on his third missionary journey, and never 
left him, apparently, till St. Paul suffered martyrdom 
in Eome. 

Philippi and Thessalonica were connected by a good 
road, and the distance between the two cities was over 
100 miles. In the narrative of the Acts, we are told 
that Paul and Silas passed through Amphipolis and 
Apollonia, and came to Thessalonica, where was a 
synagogue of the Jews. Now, from Philippi to Am- 
phipolis the distance was 33 miles ; from Amphipolis 
to Apollonia, 30 miles ; from Apollonia to Thessalonica, 
37 miles. It is not unreasonable, therefore, to suppose 
that the whole journey was performed in three days, 
and that the two places mentioned by St. Luke were 



190 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

the resting-places on the two intervening nights. The 
Romans were famous for their roads, and the road by 
which the Apostle left Pliilippi was one of the most 
celebrated in the empire. Nothing, however, is told 
us of the journey, save the places by which the two 
missionaries rested by the way. The outward features 
of the country, through which they passed, are well 
known, and have been described again and again ; and 
we cannot imagine that St. Paul, who possessed both 
a cultivated mind and a refined taste, was an indifferent 
spectator of the scenes through which he passed. The 
three days' journey between Pliilippi and Thessalonica 
brought him through a considerable variety of sceneiy, 
and by a road rich, even then, in historical associations. 
What his feelings may have been, as he looked on the 
varying aspect of plain and mountain, lake and sea, 
we can only imagine ; but this we do know 7 , that, 
nothing daunted by the treatment he had received, he 
was passing on to bear witness for the Lord Jesus in 
other cities, being sure of nothing save this, that bonds 
and stripes awaited him. Hence our interest centres 
in the man and his mission, rather than in the outward 
scenes amid which he moved. The difficulties he had 
to overcome and the dangers he had to meet, whether 
physical or moral, have an interest for us far deeper 
than attaches to the mere features of the external world 
as seen by his eyes, because they reveal the strength 
of that faith by which he was upheld. Nevertheless, 
we can hardly imagine that one trained from early 
years to read the Old Testament could be an indif- 
ferent spectator of beautiful scenery, any more than he 
could forget Him, whose * tender mercies are over all 



THESSALONICA AND BEREA. 191 

His works." But, whatever interest nature may Lave 
had for the Apostle, human life had infinitely more; 
therefore St. Luke says little about him as a mere 
traveller, and confines his attention mainly to what 
took "place in the cities where Christianity came in 
contact with other forms of religion. 

Thessalonica was the largest and one of the most 
important cities of Macedonia. In the early history 
of Greece it was known under various names, but it 
was called Thessalonica, after a sister of Alexander the 
Great, whose husband rebuilt and improved it. It is 
now called Salonika, and is still a seaport of some im- 
portance. It was not a Roman colony, like Philippi, 
but a free city, governed by its own magistrates. Here 
resided the Roman Governor, or Pro-consul, thus in- 
dicating that Thessalonica was the chief eitv of the 
province. If our readers consult the map, they will 
see that the city lies close by the shore, at the head of 
the Therm aic Gulf, and to the south-west of Philippi. 
No city the Apostle had yet visited was destined to 
play so important a part in the early history of Chris- 
tianity as Thessalonica ; even the Syrian Antioch itself 
was to fade before the glory of the Macedonian me- 
tropolis. 

Thessalonica being a commercial city, the Jews 
there were much more numerous than at Philipm. 
They kid an important synagogue there, which seems 
to have been attended by a great many " devout" Gen- 
tiles ; that is to say, Gentiles who were proselytes to 
Judaism. The two missionaries, as their custom was, 
went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. They 
took their seats as usual, and when the time came for 



192 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

the rulers of the synagogue to ask them whether they 
had any word of consolation to offer unto the brethren, 
Paul rose and addressed them. St. Luke tells us, that 
he (C reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening 
and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and 
risen from the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I 
preach unto you, is Christ/' This he continued to do 
on the two following Sabbath days, and very important 
results seem to have followed. Not many Jews ap- 
parently believed ; but a large number of the devout 
Greeks, and the chief women, also Greeks, who attended 
the Jewish synagogue on the Sabbath days, were con- 
verted. 

No outline of the Apostle's address in the syna- 
gogue, at Thessalonica, has been preserved. We are 
simply told that he preached Jesus, as the Messiah, 
and the Resurrection of Jesus, as part of the prophetic 
scheme unfolded in the Old Testament for the redemp- 
tion of the world. But 'when we read the two Epistles 
of St. Paul, written to the Thessalonians from Corinth, 
some months later, we can form some idea of what his 
teaching must have been. Among other things, it is 
clear that he must have spoken much about the Second 
Coming of Christ. This is a difficult question to touch, 
and one from which some of the writers on the life of 
St. Paul have turned away, because they could not 
bear to think that the Apostle was mistaken on a ques- 
tion of so much importance. Those who seek truth in 
the right spirit are never afraid of the consequences to 
which it may lead. It is painful, no doubt, when we 
are called upon to give up an old and fondly-cherished 
conviction, but truth alone gives true freedom ; and if 



THESSALONICA AND BEREA. 193 

we would rear a structure strong enough to defy the 
assaults of time, truth must be our foundation. We 
have already seen the difference of opinion which ex- 
isted in the early Church on the question of Jewish 
ceremonies, and how slow the Apostles in Jerusalem were 
to receive the revelation that Christian converts did not 
necessarily come under the bondage of the Law. We 
have seen, too, how the Apostles differed among them- 
selves, and disputed with one another, like ordinary 
human beings ; it is absurd, therefore, with the history 
of these things before us, still to go on talking and 
writing of the Apostles, as if they were supernatural 
beings, who could neither be swayed by human preju- 
dices, nor mistaken in judgment. There is no basis 
that is safe but truth ; and it will ever be found that 
the more we exalt these men above our human life, the 
less real help do we get from them. They must be 
tried by human standards, or the beauty and the 
nobleness of their lives cease to be realities. In the 
words of St. Paul himself, we should remember that 
they are not gods, " but men of like passions with 
ourselves." 

We must now speak of a doctrine which formed a 
prominent part of St. Paul's teachings, and which was 
universally received by Christians in the first century, 
which, nevertheless, has not been verified by subse- 
quent experience. We allude to the belief in the near 
approach of the Second Coming of Christ. On this 
subject Professor Jowett has the following suggestive 
reflections, which we commend to the attention of our 
readers: — "The influence which this belief exercised 
on the beginnings of the Church, and the manner in 

K 



194 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

which it is interwoven in the writings of the New 
Testament, render the consideration of it necessary for 
the right understanding of St. Paul's Epistles. Yet 
it is a subject from which the interpreter of Scripture 
would gladly turn aside. For it seems as if he were 
compelled to allow that St. Paul w r as mistaken, and 
that in support of his mistake he could appeal to the 
words of Christ himself. Nothing can be plainer than 
the Apostle's meaning; he says that men living in his 
own day will be e caught up to meet the Lord in the 
air/ and yet after eighteen centuries the world is as it 
was. The language which is attributed in the Epistle 
of St. Peter to the unbelievers of that age has become 
the language of believers in our ow T n. ' Since the 
fathers have fallen asleep, all things remain the same 
from the beginning.' No one can now be looking 
daily for the visible coming of Christ any more than, 
in a land where nature is at rest, he would live in ex* 
pectation of an earthquake. Not the hardness of men's 
hearts, but the experience of eighteen hundred years 
has made it impossible, consistently with the laws of 
the human mind, that the belief of the first Christians 
should continue among ourselves." We shall return 
to this subject when w T e glance at the leading topics of 
the Apostle's teaching. In the meantime we have to 
do simply with the fact as it affects the Gentile con- 
verts of Thessalonica. It would appear that so vividly 
did they realize the nearness of Christ's Second Advent, 
and the end of the world, that some began to abandon 
their ordinary occupations, while others became con- 
cerned for the fate of those who might die before the 
coming of the Lord. Hearing of all this St. Paul 



THESSALOXICA A3SD BEKEA. 195 

wrote from Corinth, some months after he left Tkes- 
saloiiica, the two Epistles to the Thessalonians, which 
are preserved in the Xew Testament, and which are not 
only the earliest of his writings which have come down 
to our day, but probably the first portion of our Xew 
Testament that was written. That these Epistles 
speak of the Second Coming of Christ as near at hand 
there can be little doubt. The Apostle, for example, 
comforts those who were concerned about the dead by 
assuring them, " that we who are alive and remain 
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them 
who are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch- 
angel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in 
Christ shall rise first : then we who are alive and remain 
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, 
to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be 
with the Lord. "Wherefore comfort one another with 
these words.'"- In the next chapter the Apostle goes 
on to say that there was no need for him to say any- 
thing about the times and the seasons, for his friends 
knew perfectly that the day of the Lord would come as 
a thief in the night. In the second Epistle again the 
Apostle admonished those who had ceased to work and 
were walking disorderly, reminding them that he him- 
self, while he was amongst them, did not eat any man's 
bread for nought ; " but wrought with labour and travail 
night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any 
of you; not because we have not power, but to make 
ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For 
* 1 Tliess. iv. 15-1S. 

K 2 



196 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

even when we were with you, this we commanded you, 
that if any would not work, neither should he eat."* 

If we take this Epistle, then, as a guide to the nature of 
St. Paul's preaching on this his first visit to the Thessa- 
lonians, there can be little doubt that the kingdom and 
Second Coming of Christ formed prominent topics. 
From these Epistles we further learn, that at least daring 
part of his stay in Thessalonica, the Apostle supported 
himself by the labour of his own hands, and that the 
brethren at Philippi sent contributions towards his 
necessities. Now, though St. Luke has only given a 
very brief sketch of what took place at Thessalonica, 
nevertheless that sketch, so far as it goes, is in perfect 
harmony with what we may gather from the Epistles. 
From the Acts, it would appear that the disturbance 
which drove the Apostle away from Thessalonica 
occurred after the third time he had spoken in the 
synagogue. If so, then his stay in that city could not 
have been much more than three weeks. And there 
is no reason to suppose that it was longer, save that 
three weeks was a very short time to account for the 
work done and the friendships formed. It has been 
supposed therefore, by some, that after St. Paul was 
no longer permitted to speak in the synagogue, he 
remained in the city preaching to and building up the 
Gentiles in the faith. It is not stated anywhere, in 
the New Testament, that such was the case, yet it 
must be admitted that this is the impression which a 
careful reading of the Epistles to the Thessalonians 
leaves on the mind. 

* 2 Thsss. iii. 8-10. 



THESSALONICA AND BEREA. 197 

But the Jews were sure not to remain long quiet 
when they saw the progress which the new faith was 
making among the Gentiles. It was not enough to 
cast the heretical Paul out of the synagogue, he must 
be silenced altogether. Accordingly, moved with envy, 
the Jews gathered around them certain low fellows, the 
rabble of the city, and made a great uproar, assaulting 
the house of Jason, where Paul and Silas lodged, 
seeking to bring them out to the assembly of the 
people. Jason himself was a believer, and some have 
fancied, from a passage in one of the Apostle's letters, 
that he was a kinsman of Paul. Fortunately, Paul 
and Silas were not in the house when the mob 
assaulted it; but Jason and certain of the brethren, 
who were there, were dragged forth and brought before 
the rulers of the city, and the following charge lodged 
against them: — (i These that have turned the world 
upside down are come hither also ; whom Jason hath 
received ; and these do all contrary to the command of 
Caesar, saying there is another king, one Jesus." This ' 
charge was very skilfully made, and had just enough 
foundation in fact, to give it an air of truth. We 
have already seen that one of the leading topics of St. 
Paul's preaching in Thessalonica was the kingdom and 
Second Coming of Jesus. It was not at all unnatural, 
therefore, that those who were only half informed 
should interpret what they did know literally. Hence 
the charge had some semblance of truth to uphold it, 
and no other could have been more potent in Thessa- 
lonica than it was. We have already observed that 
Thessalonica was a free city, possessing as such many 
important privileges ; among which, not the least was 



198 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

the right of electing its own magistrates. In all such 
cities, there was always great fear of anything being 
done which would give the Konian emperor a pretext 
for taking away their privileges. A short time before 
this, too, the Jews had been expelled from Eome, be- 
cause of a tumult raised, it was alleged, by one 
Ohristus. St. Paul had begun his preaching in Thes- 
salonica, by declaring that Jesus was the Christ ; hence 
by the charge, " These men who have turned the world 
upside down are come hither also/' it w r as probably 
intended to identify the Apostle and his friends with 
those Jews who had raised the disturbance in Kome, 
since it is hardly to be supposed that this charge could 
be brought against the Christians, seeing that this was 
but the second European city in which the Gospel had 
been preached. 

The magistrates of Thessalonica w r ere evidently 
much concerned, as well as the people, when they 
heard the charge brought against the Christians. 
Whether, had the Apostle been before them in person, 
they would have acted with the same haste, and an 
equal defiance of law, as the magistrates of Philippi 
did, we cannot say ; but, in dealing with the case as it 
came before them, they showed considerable judgment. 
They saw, doubtless, that a religious dispute was at the 
bottom of the uproar; but it was a serious thing for 
the magistrates of a free city to leave a charge of trea- 
son against the emperor uninvestigated. Jason and his 
friends were not set at liberty till they had given 
security for the good behaviour of the brethren. But 
the malice of the Jews, though baffled, did not rest. 
The Christians felt that, amidst present circumstances, 



THESSALONICA AND BEEEA. 199 

it would be wrong to risk another disturbance. So 
they sent away Paul and Silas by night. 

The two missionaries now turned aside from the 
great Eoman road which had brought them to Thessa- 
lonica, and, keeping in a direction more to the south, 
they came, after travelling about fifty miles, to the 
town of Berea. This town, which was also a place 
of considerable importance, was beautifully situated 
amid groves of palm and plane trees, on the eastern 
slope of the chain of mountains of which Olympus is 
the chief. Here, too, they found a Jewish synagogue, 
and, nothing daunted by their former experience, they 
entered it on the sabbath clay, and spoke to the people. 
The Jews at Berea were more noble than those of 
Thessalonica, because they did not allow their passions 
and prejudices to decide regarding the merits of the 
doctrine taught by St. Paul. On the contrary, they 
were determined to use their own minds, and satisfy 
themselves whether these things were so. They 
searched the Scriptures daily, and the result was, that 
many of them believed. Among the converts at 
Berea, as at Thessalonica, were many honourable 
women who were Greeks, and of men not a few. 

But religious bigotry did not give the Apostle a long 
respite. Intelligence soon reached Thessalonica that 
the word was being preached and favourably received 
at Berea. Accordingly, a party of Jews came thither, 
and stirred up the people against Paul, who, it would 
seem, was the chief object of hatred. Once more the 
watchfulness of the brethren saved him. They sent 
him towards the sea, under the care of trusty guides, 
and from some point on the coast, where a vessel was 



200 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL, 

found, he and his friends embarked for Athens. But 
Silas and Timothy, who had rejoined the Apostle at 
Berea, were left behind. This is St, Luke's account 
of the movements of Timothy ; but, from the Epistle 
to the Thessalonians, it would seem that Timothy 
accompanied the Apostle to Athens, and was sent back 
from that city with a message to the brethren in Thes- 
salonica. This is one of those discrepancies which 
no ingenuity can reconcile ; but, so far from shaking 
our faith in the general accuracy of St. Luke's narra- 
tive, it only proves that the Acts of the Apostles were 
not based on the Epistles; and thus makes every point 
in which they agree a strong proof in favour of St. 
Luke's accuracy as an historian. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



ATHENS. 



K 3 



: As once, upon Athenian ground, 
Shrines, statues, temples, all around, 

The man of Tarsus trod, — 
'Midst idol altars, one he saw, 
That fill'd his breast with sacred awe ; 

'Twas — ' To the Unknown God.' 

Age after age has roll'd away, 
Altars and thrones have felt decay, 

Sages and saints have risen ; 
And, like a giant roused from sleep, 
Man has explored the pathless deep, 

And lightnings smatch'd from heaven. 

Yet still, where'er presumptuous man 
His Maker's essence strives to scan, 

And lifts his feeble hands, 
Though saint and sage their powers unite 
To fathom that abyss of light, 

Ah ! still that altar stands." 

Barbauld. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

ATHENS. 

Nothing whatever is known of the Apostle's voyage 
to Athens ; indeed, some writers are in doubt as to 
whether he finally took his journey by land or by sea. 
St. Luke sums up the whole affair in a few words. 
"And they that conducted Paul brought him unto 
Athens, and receiving a commandment unto Silas and 
Timotheus to come to him with all speed, they de- 
parted." If you look at the map, you will see that 
when his friends brought him to the shore it was much 
more likely that they would sail to Athens, than go by 
land. In our New Testament we read that, " the 
brethren sent away Paul to go, as it were, to the sea," 
thus seeming to imply that they only went in that direc- 
tion a short way, to baffle their pursuers ; but St. Lukes 
words do not necessarily imply any such idea ; their 
true meaning would be more correctly expressed if 
translated, " they sent away Paul to go to the sea." 
The distance between Athens and Berea was about 
250 miles, and it was not likely that the Apostle would 
take such a journey by land, when he would be able to 
get a ship, without much difficulty, to carry him there, 
more especially as no object was to be gained by pre- 



204 SCENEvS FROM THE LIVE OF ST. PAUL. 

ferring the land journey. There can be little doubt, 
therefore, about the way they travelled. 

Persons acquainted with the history and geography 
of ancient Greece will have little difficulty in imagin- 
ing the many objects of interest that would open on 
St. Paul's sight during this short voyage. It is pleasant 
to reflect that the great features of the external world 
are the same now as they were then : the everlasting 
hills still rear their summits to the clouds, and cast 
their morning and evening shadows on the plain; the 
sea still flows as of old, and its waves break upon the 
same shore, but the glory of ancient Greece has faded 
like a dream, and a scene of desolation creeps over the 
mind of the traveller who visits, in modern times, that 
once famous and still beautiful land. Long before 
St. Paul's day the noblest period of Grecian history 
had passed away, yet the traditions of what Greece had 
been, when a free land, were still fresh in the minds of 
her degenerate children, and the monuments of her 
glory as yet unclimmed by time. She was still looked 
up to, by surrounding nations, as the teacher of arts 
and sciences : the land of orators, poets, and philo- 
sophers. Like Palestine, Greece was under the do- 
minion of Eome ; but, in one sense, it may be said that 
she shared the Government of the world with Eome. 
Her sway was not upheld by force of arms, but by the 
power of thought. Here, then, the Gospel, which Paul 
preached, was coming face to face with the learning 
and the wisdom of the age. We have seen how the 
new religion had taken root in other cities, where men 
were, perhaps, not less qualified to " prove all things 
and hold fast that which is good," than were those of 



ATHENS. 205 

Athens. We have seen, too, how it could grow in 
wilder regions, where men and nature were both more 
rugged than in the great centres of commercial enter- 
prise. But we have never seen it in a city so famous 
as Athens was for intellectual greatness. This city 
was called the " eye of Greece, the inventor of letters, 
the light of the civilized world," so glorious had been 
its career in arts, arms, literature, and government. Here 
the leading systems of Grecian philosophy first saw 
the light. Here had lived Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. 
Here had lived poets, sculptors, and orators, whose 
names will be remembered as long as the world lasts. 
Here great deeds had been performed, and many a 
brave word spoken, the memory of which has not yet 
passed away. And here, too, was the very stronghold 
of that Paganism against which the Gospel that Paul 
preached waged incessant war. The brief allusions 
in the Acts -would be enough to tell us what the most 
prominent sight must have been to a stranger, like the 
Apostle, on first entering this celebrated city. It was 
not the sight of heathen Temples, numerous and beau- 
tiful though they were, but of statues to heathen gods 
and goddesses, with which the streets and market-places 
were adorned. One writer tells us that it had more ot 
those statues than all the rest of Greece. It was called, 
too, " the altar of Greece ;" and a Roman satirist who 
lived at the same time as St. Paul said, that it *' f was 
so full of deities, that it was easier to find a god than 
a man." The Apostle was no stranger to heathen 
cities, it is true ; but, to one who had dwelt so much in 
Jerusalem, where no visible image of Deity was to be 
found; the sight of Athens, with its temples, statues, 



206 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

and altars, must have been one not likely to be soon 
forgotten. 

Sailing to Athens, the Apostle would land at Pirseus, 
the port of Athens, and five miles distant from the city. 
A long, narrow street, closed in by walls 60 feet high, 
at one time connected the port and the city. That was 
in the days when Athens was free ; now, when she was 
under the dominion of Eome, and her political great- 
ness had ceased, this street and the wall which protected 
it had fallen into decay. Nevertheless, along this way 
the Apostle must have passed when going from the 
port to the city; hence he could not fail to notice the 
fact that the day of Athenian glory had set. 

It would appear, from the Acts, that the Apostle's 
first intention was to remain quiet in Athens till his 
friends joined him ; for, whether Timothy were left 
behind at Berea, as St. Luke states, or sent to the 
Thessalonians with a message from Paul, as we should 
infer from the Epistle, there can be no doubt about the 
fact that the Apostle was left alone in Athens. But, 
whatever his original intention may have been, circum- 
stances soon made it impossible for him to hold his 
tongue. When he saw the city so completely given 
up to idolatry, his spirit was stirred within him. Such 
sights were not altogether strange to him, yet what he 
saw in Athens seems to have moved him more than he 
was ever moved before. Though he stood alone, he 
could not remain silent. He went into the Jewish 
synagogue, and, as his custom was, proclaimed the 
glad tidings there first. We are not told how the Jews 
received him ; but he found plenty to do. There were 
Jewish proselytes, and other persons, in abundance, 



ATHENS. 207 

ready to dispute wftfi him in the Agora, or market- 
place. From ancient times it was customary, at Athens, 
for people to meet in this place to hold converse with 
one another on matters of all kinds — grave and gay, 
trifling and important. Some of the more celebrated 
teachers of philosophy had their schools there. It was 
something more than a market-place, in our sense of 
the word. It was the great centre of public life, where 
the orators and statesmen, the poets and artists of 
Greece had met and mingled with the people in olden 
times, " and it still continued to be the meeting-place 
of philosophy, of idleness, of conversation, and of 
business, when Athens could only be proud of her re- 
collections of the past." * 

On the south side of the Agora was a sloping hill, 
partially levelled into an open area, where, in the days 
of Athenian freedom, the political assemblies were 
held. On the north was the craggy eminence of the 
Areopagus, and on the east was the Acropolis, towering 
high above the scene of which it was the glory and 
the crown. St. Luke tells us that the Athenians and 
strangers, who visited the city, spent their time either 
telling or hearing some new thing. Demosthenes, 
400 years before the time of St. Luke, warned the 
Athenians of this vice, telling them that they were 
always inquiring in the place of public resort if there 
were any news, even though destruction was impending 
over their liberties. In the market-place, then, the 
Apostle found plenty to do. How was it possible for 
him to remain long silent : with a divine faith burning 
in his bosom, when the monuments, the temples, and 
the altars of an idol worship were confronting him, 

* Conybeare and Hovfson. 



208 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

and, as it were, challenging him to bear witness for 
the Gospel ? Two sects of Grecian philosophers are 
specially mentioned as coming in contact with the 
Apostle in this place. St. Luke tells us that "certain 
philosophers of the Epicureans and the Stoics encoun- 
tered him ;" and the Apostle's address seems to imply that 
he had been disputing with representatives of these 
sects. These two systems of philosophy originated 
about the same time. The Epicureans took their name 
from Epicurus, their founder, who died 270 years before 
Christ. He taught that pleasure was the greatest 
good of life. That the world was created by chance, 
and not even under the government of the Deity. His 
idea of God was that of a Being who dwelt apart, in 
serene indifference to all the affairs of the universe. 
His own life is said to have been, on the whole, pure 
and exemplary ; his idea of pleasure being to avoid 
excitement and commotion, so that the stream of life 
might flow as smoothly as possible. But his followers 
gave a wider interpretation to his doctrine of pleasure 
as the highest good, making pleasure include all sensual 
enjoyments, so that in time the term Epicurean came 
to mean one whose life had no higher aim than 
the gratification of his appetite. Epicurus taught in 
a garden not far from the market-place, where the 
Apostle encountered his followers. This garden the 
philosopher bequeathed to his followers, and, in St. 
Paul's time, it was still the school were Epicureanism 
was taught. 

The sect of the Stoics derived its nam^ from 
stoa, a porch, or portico, in the market-place, where 
its doctrines were first taught. Its founder was 
Zeno, a native of Cyprus, who died 260 years 



ATHENS. 209 

before Christ. He taught that God was the spirit 
or reason of the universe, and that all things were 
under the dominion of an iron necessity, called 
Fate. He condemned the worship of images and the 
use of temples, but justified the popular polytheism as 
a religion fitted for the ignorant multitude. The Stoics 
believed that virtue should be sought for its own 
sake, and with a sublime indifference to pleasure and 
pain, they held that to the wise man all outward 
things were alike. Pleasure was no good; pain was 
no evil. All actions conformable to reason were 
equally good ; all actions contrary to reason were 
equally bad. The wise man, therefore, was he who 
lived according to reason ; and living thus he was per- 
fect and self-sufficing. This system of thought has 
produced many noble men, particularly among the 
Romans. We shall see how the Apostle was alive 
both to its good and evil side. 

Coming in contact with representatives of these two 
sects, and disputing with them in the place of public 
resort, the Apostle soon attracted the attention of a 
large number of persons. Some said, " What will 
this babbler say ? " Literally, " this bird picking up 
seeds," a figure of speech intending to denote that the 
Apostle was one of those triflers who frequented the 
market-place, and attracted attention by retailing the 
sayings of better men. Others said, "He seemeth to be 
a setter forth of strange gods." So the crowd laid hold 
of him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, "May 
we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, 
is ?" The place to which the Apostle was thus brought 
was the summit of a rocky hill, where the court, called 



210 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

the tribunal of Areopagus, had sat from time im- 
memorial, to pass sentence on the greatest criminals, 
and to decide the most solemn questions connected with 
law and religion. The judges sat in the open air, 
upon seats hewn out in the rock, and in front of them 
was an open platform, which was reached by a flight of 
stone steps, which led from the market-place beneath. 
On this spot a long series of awful causes connected 
with crime and religion had been decided, beginning 
with the legendary trial of Mars, which gave to the 
place its name of Mars' Hill. So distinguished had 
the judges of this court been in former times for their 
w T isdom and impartiality, that foreign States had re- 
sorted to them as umpires in cases that it w r as difficult 
to decide upon. No spot in Athens was more inti- 
mately associated with her former greatness, and none 
could be better fitted for such a discourse as the 
Apostle was about to deliver. Here the gay and 
frivolous Athenian felt himself, as it were, in the pre- 
sence of a higher power, " and a vague recollection of 
the dread thoughts associated by poetry and tradition 
with the Hill of Mars may have solemnized the minds 
of some who crowded up the stone steps with the 
Apostle, and clustered round the summit of the hill to 
hear his announcement of the new divinities."* 

In Athens, then, on the spot made sacred by the 
noblest associations of which Paganism could boast, 
and with the altars, the statues, and the temples of 
heathenism meeting* his eye whichever way he turned, 
did the Apostle stand up to speak of that God who 
dwelleth not in temples made with hands. 

* Conybeare and Howson. 



ATHENS. 211 

u Ye men of Athens/ 5 said he, " all things which I 
behold bear witness to your carefulness in religion. 
For as I passed through your city, and beheld the 
objects of your worship, I found amongst them an 
altar with this inscription, ' To the Unknown God.' 
Whom, therefore, ye worship, though you know him 
not, him declare I unto you. 

u God, who made the world and all things therein, 
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwe]leth 
not in temples made with hands, neither is he served 
by the hands of men as though he needed anything ; 
for it is he that hath given unto all life, and breath, 
and all things. And he hath made of one blood all 
the nations of mankind, to dwell upon the face of the 
whole earth, and ordained to each the apj)ointed seasons 
of their existence and the bounds of their habitations; 
that they should seek God, if haply they might feel 
after him and find him, though he be not far from any 
one of us ; for in him we live, and move, and have 
our being ; as certain also of your own poets have 
said — 

1 For we are his offspring. ' 

Forasmuch, then, as we are the offspring of God, we 
ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto 
gold, or silver, or stone, graven by the art and device 
of man. 

" Howbeit, those past times of ignorance God hath 
overlooked ; but now he eommandeth all men every- 
where to repent, because he hath appointed a day 
wherein he will judge the world by that man whom he 
hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto 
all, in that he hath raised him from the dead." 



212 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

At this point in the address, it would appear from 
the narrative in the Acts, the speaker was suddenly in- 
terrupted. The multitude was not prepared to hear 
him go into the evidence by which the noble faith he 
had unfolded was upheld. Some laughed at the idea 
of Christ's resurrection, others, more thoughtful per- 
haps, said, " We will hear thee again concerning this 
matter." But the noble words spoken by St. Paul 
that day, as they have come down to us, are precious 
both for the truths they teach and the example they 
afford of that wisdom and profound knowledge of the 
human heart which the Apostle manifested in his deal- 
ings with different classes of men. By comparing the 
translation of this address, which we have printed from 
the work of Messrs. Conybeare and Howson, with the 
translation in the New Testament, our readers will 
find some differences which require to be explained, 
particularly in the opening passage. In the authorized 
version of the Bible the Apostle is made to say, " Ye 
men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too 
superstitious." This would have been an insult to his 
audience, and altogether contrary to the Apostle's usual 
mode of gaining the attention, and, if possible, the 
sympathy of his hearers, by a graceful, conciliatory 
mode of address. It is well to know, therefore, that 
the words translated " too superstitious " really mean 
" more God-fearing." " Ye men of Athens, I perceive 
by all things around me that ye are more God-fearing 
than others, for as I passed by and beheld your de- 
votions, I found an altar with this inscription, .- To the 
Unknown God/ " Many speculations have been en- 
tered into concerning the origin of such altars. The 



ATHENS. 213 

fact that in Athens there were such altars has been 
noticed by several heathen writers, but how they 
originated does not seem very clear. Whatever their 
origin may have been, the deep significance which the 
Apostle saw in the inscription on them is a marvellous 
illustration of his spiritual insight. 

Another fact which strikes us in connection with this 
address, is the difference between it and any one 
reported to have been delivered in a Jewish synagogue. 
Our readers may easily understand now how necessary 
it was that the missionary who was to preach Chris- 
tianity to the Gentiles should have a Gentile as well 
as a Jewish training. In the synagogue, St. Paul 
could quote from the Law and the Prophets to prove 
that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah ; but on Mars 
Hill, speaking to the philosophers of Athens, he ap- 
pealed to Nature and Providence when he sought to 
confirm the great truth, that the God who dwelt not in 
temples made with hands governs the world in 
righteousness and love; and he could quote from 
their own poets a passage setting forth that men are 
the offspring of God. Indeed, it is impossible to 
imagine an address better suited for the purpose it was 
intended to serve than this. As has been well ob- 
served, the sentences seem constructed almost so as to 
meet in turn the cases of every class of persons of 
whom the audience was composed. Each phrase is 
adapted at once to win and to rebuke. The people of 
Athens were naturally proud of everything that related 
to their city and the home where they dwelt. St. Paul 
begins by telling them how T much he was struck by the 
aspect of their city, which showed, at least, great care- 



214 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

fulness in the matter of religion. But he at once 
checks the slightest manifestation of false pride by 
reminding them that the place and the time appointed 
for each nation's existence are parts of one great plan 
of Providence ; and that One God is the common 
Father of all men, having made of one blood all the 
nations of the earth. If the general and more igno- 
rant part of the Apostle's hearers were pleased with 
his word of praise for the care they gave to the highest 
of all concerns, their feeling of satisfaction would be 
somewhat checked by his admonition, showing that 
idolatry degrades all worship and leads men away from 
true notions of Deity. " The more educated and 
imaginative class of hearers, who delighted in the 
diversified mythology which personified the operations 
of nature and localized the divine presence in sanc- 
tuaries adorned by poetry and art, are led from the 
thought of their favourite shrines and customary sacri- 
fices to views of that awful Being who is Lord of 
heaven and earth, and the one Author of universal 
life. Up to a certain point in this high view of the 
Supreme Being, the Epicurean as well as the Stoic 
might listen with wonder and admiration. It soared, 
indeed, high above the vulgar religion ; but in the 
lofty and serene Deity, who disdained to dwell in the 
earthly temple, and needed nothing from the hand of 
man, the Epicurean might almost suppose that he 
heard the language of his own teacher. But the next 
sentence, which asserted the providence of God as the 
active, creative energy, annihilated at once the atomic 
theory and the government of blind chance, to which 
Epicurus ascribed the origin and preservation of the 



ATHENS. 215 

universe. And when the Stoic heard the Apostle say 
that we ought to rise to the contemplation of the Deity 
without the intervention of earthly objects, and that 
we live, and move, and have our being in him, it 
might have seemed like the echo of his own thought, 
until the proud philosopher learnt that it was no pan- 
theistic diffusion of power and order of which the 
Apostle spoke, but a living centre of government and 
love ; that the world was ruled, not by the iron neces- 
sity of Fate, but by the providence of a personal 
God; and that from the proudest philosophers re- 
pentance and meek submission were sternly ex- 
acted/' * 

But if the germ of some of St. Paul's ideas might 
be found in the teachings of the leading schools of 
Athenian philosophy, the development and practical 
application of them must have sounded strange, even 
to the wisest and most thoughtful of those who heard 
him speak on Mars' Hill that day. With the excep- 
tion of its conclusion, the most startling parts of the 
Apostle's address would be those in which he declared 
his belief in the moral government of God, the unity 
of the human race, and the moral accountability of 
man. What a solemn thought it must have been for 
the profligate Greeks to carry away with them, that a 
God of infinite justice and truth was governing the 
world, and judging all men by his immutable laws ! 
What a lesson for the proud philosopher to learn, that 
he was of one blood with the poor slave whom he 
despised, and that God was the Father and the Friend 
of all men ! 

* Ccnybea~e and Howson, and Oilman's History of Christianity. 



216 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

Thus the Fatherhood of God ; the Brotherhood of 
Man; Repentance and corning judgment through that 
Man whom God had ordained and raised from the 
dead, were the great topics of the Apostle's discourse 
on Mars' Hill. These were to him the very corner 
stones of that great Christian temple, to the building 
of which he had resolved to consecrate his life. If he 
made converts, and became the most successful Mis- 
sionary of the Cross who ever went forth to preach, 
his success was certainly not due to his teaching what 
are sometimes called " the peculiar doctrines of the 
Gospel." His religious faith, as made known to us in 
the Acts of the Apostles and his own epistles, was at 
once simple and comprehensive. If he saw things 
from a human point of view, and was therefore not 
infallible, nevertheless he laid such a firm hold of the 
essentials of Christianity that they became to him the 
greatest realities of life. The frivolous Greeks might 
turn away from him, making a mock of the truths he 
gave utterance to on Mars' Hill ; and even the more 
thoughtful put off all further inquiry to a more conve- 
nient season. Yet, despite the indifference of the one 
and the scorn of the other, these truths were destined, 
ere long, to play a mighty part in the world's history ; 
to pull down many an abuse hoary with age ; shake 
thrones founded on iniquity ; and inspire lowly hearts 
with a love and a faith which would make them 
stronger than the world. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



C E I N T H 



11 Strange realms, wide waters o'er, 

The conquering cross he bore ; 
1 1 her own isle the Love Queen he abaslrd ; * 

Through Asian cities bright 

He pour'd the sweet, strange light ; 
Down Dian in her Ephesus he dash'd ; 

Greece glow'd beneath his golden^tongue ; 
Full in Athenian ears their unknown God he rung. 

Each rich Corinthian shrine 

Grew dim and undivine ; 
Philippi heard the captor-captive's song ; 

On, ne'er from Grecian soul 

Such golden streams did roll ! 
No Roman hand e'er smote, e'er built so strong ! 

Down temples fell where'er he trod, 
And on from land to land stretch'd the dear Church of Go:i. 

* Cyprus. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CORINTH. 

It does not appear, from the narrative of St. Luke, 
that the Apostle remained long in Athens after he 
spoke to the Athenians on Mars' Hill. He did not 
stay for the coming of_Silas and Timothy, but departed 
for Corinth alone. The reason of this may have been 
the small impression which his teachings made on the 
gay and sceptical Athenians. Or, perhaps, he had set 
his mind on visiting Corinth, and yearned to accom- 
plish it now that he was so near ; for, as Mr. Stanley 
has well observed, the whole tone of the narrative in 
the Acts is that of an onward march. His departure 
from most of the towns he had visited was hastened 
by persecution ; yet he always kept a southward 
course. " When he arrived at Athens he paused 
there, not as a final resting-place, but merely to wait 
for Silas and Timothy, and, at last impatient of the 
delay, took his departure and arrived at Corinth. Here 
was the capital of Achaia ; and beyond this, so far as 
we know, he never advanced. Here, not for a short 
period of three weeks, but for a time hitherto un- 
paralleled in his journeys, of a year and a half, he 

L 2 



220 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

found his first Gentile home." * If we except the 
discrepancy as to the place from whence Timothy was 
sent back to Thessalonica, there is a striking agree- 
ment between the narrative of St. Luke and what we 
gather from the Epistle to the Thessalonians regard- 
ing the Apostle's movements. From the Epistle, 
however, we learn some things not mentioned in the 
Acts. Thus it would appear that St. Paul left Thessa- 
lonica with the intention of returning in a very short 
time, for he says, "But we, brethren, being taken from 
you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endea- 
voured the more abundantly to see your face with 
great desire. Wherefore we would have come unto 
you, even I, Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered 
us." If it was his intention, then, to remain at Berea 
only for a short time till the storm raised by the 
Jewish persecution in Thessalonica had passed away, 
and then return to finish the work he had so well 
begun, we can easily imagine that he would give it up 
when the persecutors from Thessalonica followed 
him thither. Now Timothy, who was left behind at 
Philippi, appears to have rejoined the Apostle as he 
was about to depart for Athens. In going to Berea 
Timothy would pass through Thessalonica, and may 
have brought some message from the Thessalonians 
which required an answer. This would account for 
his being sent back again, either from Berea or from 
Athens. The Apostle's own statement seems clear 
enough, and yet it may mean no more than that 
Timothy's being sent back to Thessalonica was the 
cause of Paul being alone in Athens. " When we 
* Stanley on the Corinthians. 



CORINTH. 221 

could no longer forbear, we thought it good to 
be left at Athens alone: and sent Timotheus, our 
brother, and minister of God, and our fellow-labourer 
in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to 
comfort you concerning your faith ; that no man 
should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves 
know that we are appointed thereunto."* This at 
least implies that the Apostle had heard of some trials 
to which the Thessalonians had been subject after his 
departure. This information would probably reach 
him through Timothv, and it does seem more natural 
that Timothy should have been sent from Berea with 
the comforting message alluded to in the Epistle, at 
the very time when he brought the intelligence that it 
was needed, rather than that he should have gone all 
the way to Athens, and then come back. Moreover, 
what could be more likely than that the Apostle, the 
moment he found that he could not carry out his 
purpose of revisiting Thessalonica, should have sent 
Timothy at once to explain why he did not return ? 
There is great probability, therefore, in St. Luke's ac- 
count; and; as the only difficulty is about the place 
from which Timothy was sent back to Berea, we are 
more disposed to put a different interpretation on St. 
Paul's words than to assume that the historian is wrong-. 
Be this as it may, it seems pretty certain that the 
Apostle's stay in Athens was a short one, and that he 
left before Silas and Timothy rejoined him. 

The city to which the Apostle thus came was very 
different in many respects from the one he had just 
left. It was built on the narrow isthmus which, like a 
bridge, connected the northern and southern divisions 

* 1 Thessalonians iii. 1-3. 



222 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

of Achaia. Indeed, it is from this Greek " bridge of 
the sea" that our geographical term isthmus is derived. 
The neck of land on which Corinth stood has given 
the name of isthmus to every similar portion of land 
in the world. The ancient city of Corinth was de- 
stroyed long before the time of the Apostle ; and, 
after lying in rains for a hundred years, it was rebuilt 
by Julius Csesar and made a Roman colony. The 
Corinth of St. Paul's day was, therefore, compa- 
ratively speaking, a new city. Situated on the isthmus 
— through which all the commerce between the eastern 
and western worlds passed, it grew rapidly into a 
place of great importance. Here were literally to be 
found men of all nations, but the bases of the popula- 
tion were Eomans, Greeks, and Jews. " Everything 
in Corinth was young, fresh, restless, and unsettled. 
It was a state of society in which there were no conser- 
vative influences, no venerable usages — where even the 
temples of the gods had no great antiquity to boast of, 
and where, accordingly, every variety of man, eyery 
new theory and speculation migbt meet on nearly equal 
ground, and have a fair struggle for predominance."* 
No place, therefore, could be better adapted for such a 
missionary as St. Paul. And it is an instructive fact 
in the early history of the Gospel, that this ever- 
changing, busy, mercantile population received the new 
faith with greater readiness than the highly-polished 
and cultivated Athenians. St, Paul stayed only a few 
days, or at most, w T eeks, in Athens. He was a year and 
a half in Corinth, and a large and flourishing church 

* St. Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians, their Spirit and Significance. 
By the Rev. J. H. Thorn. 



CORINTH. 2£3 

grew up there. This may seem strange, and, at first 
sight, altogether different from what we should expect 
but a little thought will soon explain it. 

Every great moral revolution has been brought about 
by a gradual upheaving of the underlying masses of 
society. On the banks of the lake of Galilee, it was 
the hardy fishermen and boatmen who first gathered 
round Jesus. In our own country, the Reformation 
was brought about by the preaching of Wycliffe and 
his Lollard followers, to the common people. So it 
was, in a great measure, with St, Paul and the early 
Christians. They made few converts, certainly, among 
the wealthier classes of society; but their teachings 
came with power to the underlying masses. To use 
the Apostle's own words: t; Xot many mighty, not 
many noble, not many wise," were called ; but slaves 
and artisans formed the class from which the first 
Christian societies were mainly drawn. The faith 
which was to revolutionize the world did not take up 
its abode in king's palaces and the schools of the phi- 
losophers, until it had sown broadcast in the hearts of 
the common people, the seeds of a new and a diviner 
life. In the churches founded by the Apostle, all were 
made welcome ; the slave and his master stood before 
the same altar, heard the same words of instruction, 
and were taught to feel that they were responsible to 
the same God. The spread of Christianity is one of 
the greatest marvels in the moral history of the 
world. Some seek to account for it wholly by super- 
natural means ; but, to us, it seems rather that it spread 
by the inherent force of that new life which it was 
fitted to communicate. The convert was not merelv 



224 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL 

enlightened, but morally changed. In Christ Jesus he 
became a new creature. He was raised by Christianity 
to a greater spiritual elevation, and saw life and its 
duties from a nobler stand-point. The change it pro- 
duced in the individual was like being born into 
a higher world. But it would be altogether contrary 
to our experience to imagine that the Christian con- 
verts were able to put off the old life and put on the 
new without a struggle. It is not given to man to 
change the whole course of his existence, except 
through a terrible conflict. We need not be surprised, 
therefore, if many of the converts began to faint and 
falter after the first flush of excitement had passed 
away ; or even to hear that the noblest amongst them 
found it impossible to bring their lives up to the new 
standard. The ideal in a Christian's life must ever 
be far in advance of the actual ; but, in those days, 
when men became Christians, they had to shake their 
minds free from Jewish and Pagan customs and super- 
stitions. It was an age, too, of great moral corrup- 
tion; hence, we may naturally expect that many of the 
first converts retained some of their old feelings and 
customs long after they had made public profession of 
Christianity, and may even have attempted to find some 
sanction in the new religion for so doing. The letters 
of St. Paul prove that such was the case, and no 
church was likely to be more tried in this way than 
that of Corinth. A new city, which, from its position 
between two seas, was called the " Gate of Greece ;" 
which, by the facilities it afforded for trade, had 
attracted from all quarters, in a few years, a large and 
fluctuating population ; and which was alike distin- 



CORINTH. 225 

guished for its riches and its vice, was surely a place 
where Christianity would have many a moral victory 
to win before it could securely plant itself. Accordingly, 
we are not surprised to find that the two letters which 
the Apostle wrote to the Church he founded in 
Corinth should speak of those who were falling away, 
and of evil practices being introduced into the Church 
itself. It would have been a miracle, indeed, if all 
who had once made profession of the new faith had 
been able to shake themselves free from former habits 
and the influences amidst which they had grown up. 
That such was not the case, every reader of the Epis- 
tles to the Corinthians must know. In the church at 
Corinth, both Jewish and Pagan elements began at a 
very early period to blend themselves w T ith the Gospel, 
and, worse still, heathen immoralities sometimes sought 
the shelter of the Church; thus there was frequent 
need for discipline and rebuke, as well as counsel and 
advice. After all, this only helps us to feel more truly 
that the early Christians were men of like passions 
with ourselves, and does not in the least lessen the 
force of what we have said about the Gospel being 
fitted to make progress by the moral and spiritual life 
it awoke in human hearts. 

But, coming back to our history, from which the 
speculations in which we have been indulging have- 
somewhat led us away, we shall endeavour to give 
our readers some idea of the outward aspect of Corinth, 
and then proceed with our sketch of the Apostle's life 
there. " The outward aspect which the city of Corinth 
presented at the time of St. Paul is well known. From 
the summit of the Acrocorinthus, or huge rocky hill 

o 3 



226 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

at the foot of which the town was situated, the eye 
takes in at a glance, what is slowly conveyed by books, 
the secret of its importance, as in classical, so also in 
sacred history. To the right and to the left extend the 
winding shores of the 'double sea/ where blue waters, 
threading their way through islands and promontories 
innumerable, open to the east and west the communi- 
cation which made it once and again the natural resting- 
place in the Apostle's journeys. From that little bay of 
Cenehrea, he was to take his departure for Ephesus 
and Jerusalem. Up the course of that western gulf 
lay the direct route to Rome and to the far west, which 
even now he hoped to follow, and along which, at his 
second visit, he sent his Epistle to the Romans. In 
front lie the hills of northern Greece, and on the coast 
of Attica, discovered by the glitter of its crown of 
temples, the Acropolis of Athens. Behind rise the 
mountains of Peloponnesus, the highlands of Greece. 
What was the appearance of the city itself we know 
to a certain extent, from a detailed description of 
it, written one hundred years later. At present, one 
Doric temple alone remains of all the splendid build- 
ings then standing; but the immediate vicinity presents 
various features to which the Apostle's allusions have 
given an immediate interest. The level plain, and the 
broken gullies of the isthmus, are still clothed with 
the low pine, from whose branches of emerald green 
were woven the garlands for the Isthmian games, con- 
trasted by the Apostle, in his letter to the Corinthians, 
with the unfading crown of the Christian combatant. 
In its eastern declivities are to be seen the vestiges of 
that stadium in which all ran with such energy as to be 



CORINTH. 227 

taken as the example of Christian self-denial and ex- 
ertion. On the outskirts of the city may be traced 
the vast area of the amphitheatre, which conveyed to 
the Corinthians a lively image of the Apostle's fighting 
with beasts, or of his being set forth as the last in a 
file of combatants appointed unto death — 'a spectacle 
to the world, to angels, and to men/ Around, stood 
the temples, resting on their columns — columns of the 
Corinthian order, which made the name of Corinthian 
buildings proverbial for magnificence, and which, 
standing as they did in their ancient glory amidst the 
new streets erected by Csesar on the ruins of the old, 
may well have suggested the comparison of the gold, 
silver, and precious marbles, surviving the conflagra- 
tion in which all meaner edifices of wood and thatch 
had perished/' * 

To this large mercantile city the Apostle carae alone, 
after his short visit to Athens. At all times the num- 
ber of Jews in Corinth was large, but at that time it 
was larger than usual, because many of those who had 
been expelled from Eome by the decree of the Em- 
peror, had taken refuge in Corinth. Among these 
were Aquila, a native of Pontus, in Asia Minor, 
and his wife, Prisciila. With these persons Paul 
went to lodge ; they followed the business he had 
learned in his youth, and they found him employ- 
ment. Here then, supporting himself by the labour 
of his hands at the honest employment of tent-making, 
the Apostle waited patiently the arrival of his two 
companions, Silas and Timothy. On the Sabbath 
days, however, though the every- day toil was thrown 
* Stanley on the Corinthians. 



228 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OP ST. PAUL. 

aside, St. Paul was not idle. He entered the Jewish 
synagogue and reasoned with the Jews and the Greek 
proselytes. For some weeks this must have gone on, 
and as no offence, apparently, was taken at his 
teaching, we may suppose that he had not introduced 
many of those special topics of discourse which had 
so alarmed and excited the indignation of the Jews in 
other synagogues. But when Silas and Timothy ar- 
rived from Macedonia, bringing with them a cheering 
account of the zeal of the Churches, some of which 
had already begun to suffer for the cause, the Apostle 
could no longer restrain himself. " He was pressed in 
spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was the 
Christ." No sooner did he begin to do so than the 
same burst of excitement and rage broke out in the 
synagogue at Corinth as had burst forth in other 
synagogues under similar circumstances. But the 
Apostle already saw a great work before him in 
Corinth, and was determined not to give way to the 
storm which the more bigoted Jews had raised. In 
the expressive language of those times, " he shook 
his raiment, and said unto them, your blood be upon 
your own heads. I am clear ; from henceforth I will 
go unto the Gentiles." 

Near to the synagogue, where this scene took place, 
was the house of the proselyte Justus. This was 
opened to receive the Apostle and the friends who left 
the synagogue with him. A church was soon formed, 
which some of the leading Jews joined, and among 
them was Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue. But 
here, as elsewhere, under the Apostle's teaching, it was 
the Gentiles rather than the Jews among whom the 



CORINTH. 229 

greatest number of converts was made. There was 
something perhaps in the attitude which this new 
society assumed, which implied more decided hostility 
to Judaism than any former movement of St. Paul. 
His own mind was evidently more than usually dis- 
turbed. He had lived some weeks at Corinth, and 
must have spoken many times to his countrymen and 
their proselytes in the synagogues before his expulsion 
took place. He may have imagined that it would be 
possible for him to go on doing so, and thus, without 
any open disruption, win over to the new faith not only 
the ruler, but the majority of the worshippers of the 
synagogue. Or, perhaps, the disruption which had 
taken place had been more than usually trying in the 
ties of affection it had rent asunder. Those who know, 
from their own experience, what it is to become, as it 
were, a stranger to their own kindred in order to be 
faithful to one's religious convictions, can easily imagine 
how painful it must have been to the Apostle many 
times to witness the family divisions which the teach- 
ing of Christianity inevitably made. But whatever the 
cause may have been, it seems pretty certain that this 
division in the Corinthian synagogue was more than 
usually painful to the Apostle. The very night on 
which it took place he seems to have been meditating 
whether or not he ought to leave Corinth. But the 
Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, " Be 
not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace : for 
I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt 
thee : for I have much people in this city." Thus 
strengthened and enlightened, the Apostle held on his 
way rejoicing. The workshop of Aquila became the 



230 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

centre of a new moral life to multitudes, both of Jews 
and Gentiles, in the voluptuous city of Corinth; for the 
Apostle in his manly resolve to be burdensome to no 
man, gained his own living by tent-making, extending 
his stay to a year and a half. 

But having resolved, in obedience to the vision, to 
prolong his stay in Corinth, and thinking much of 
his converts in Thessalonica, from whom Timothy had 
just come, hearing kindly messages and contributions 
towards his necessities ; also, no doubt, informing him 
of the errors which were already beginning to spring 
up among the Thessalonians, and of the fears of mauy 
as to what should become of those who died before the 
Second Coming of Christ, the Apostle resolved to write 
to the Thessalonians. Being forbidden by the vision 
to leave Corinth, yet earnestly desiring to see his 
friends at Thessalonica again, he made the best pos- 
sible compromise between his feelings and his sense of 
duty by writing, and despatching Timothy to Thessa- 
lonica with the letter. Thus the first of those noble 
letters in w r hich the spirit of the great Apostle still 
lives, in " thoughts that breathe and words that burn," 
was written. These letters are often sadly perverted, 
it is true, because people will persist in regarding them, 
not as letters called forth by the circumstances in 
which the Apostle was placed, and the condition of the 
churches he had planted, but as if each was a dis- 
tinct treatise, setting forth some point of Christian 
doctrine in a precise and logical form, so that it might 
be applicable to all circumstances and all times. If 
this little book answer the purpose it is intended to 
serve, it will help those young persons who may read 



CORINTH. 231 

it, to have some idea of the circumstances amidst which 
most of St. Paul's Epistles were written, and help them to 
see that many of the questions to which they relate must 
have been peculiar to that age. For the want of such aid 
the noble Epistles of St. Paul are a source of perplexity 
to many, whilst the present mode of settling religious 
controversies by quoting texts of Scripture, so perverts, 
at times, the Apostle's teachings, that gentle natures 
are alienated from him, and taught to regard him as a 
mere controversialist, always battling for some dogma, 
rather than an earnest, large-hearted, religious man, in 
whose life and teachings the spirit of Christ brought forth 
its noblest fruits. By this, we do not mean to say that 
there is nothing in St, Paul's Epistles which it is diffi- 
cult to comprehend. The very fact that they are letters, 
called forth by circumstances which it is now difficult 
to realize, would of itself be sufficient to convince any 
thoughtful person that there must be many things in 
them hard to understand. But the only way to under- 
stand them is, as far as possible, to throw ourselves 
back into the age when the Apostle lived, and thus 
become familiar with his work, and the difficulties that 
were so plentifully strewn along his path. We might 
not even then, it is true, be able to surmount every 
difficulty; but we should be gainers thus far, that the 
general purpose of each Epistle would become clear 
to us. The difference between the first century and 
the nineteenth would be felt, and thus we might learn 
to rise above the mere letter of the Apostle's teachings, 
to the spirit, w r hich is as applicable to the controversies 
of to-day as it w r as to those of the first century. 

The second Epistle to the Thessalonians was also 



232 SCENES EllOM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

written in Corinth during the eighteen months the 
Apostle staid there, and a slight reference to those 
Epistles will illustrate what we have said regarding the 
way in which all the Epistles should he read. But 
though the Apostle did not forget the wants of his 
Macedonian converts, his main energies were concen- 
trated on the work in Corinth. The cause there con- 
tinued to prosper, thus fully justifying the prophecy 
made in the dream, "I have much people in this city." 
But the Jews, irritated beyond measure by the success 
of the new heresy, tried the same mode of putting a 
stop to St. Paul's teaching as they had tried in other 
cities. Corinth, like Philippi, was a Roman colony, 
and therefore ruled by a Roman governor and magis- 
trates. A new governor being appointed by Csesar 
during the time of the Apostle's stay, the Jews, on his 
coming, made an uproar, and dragged Paul before the 
judgment seat, saying, " This fellow persuadeth men 
to worship God, contrary to the law." It must have 
been a trying moment for the Apostle, and he was 
preparing to defend himself, but there was no need for 
defence. The governor, perceiving that it was only a 
question regarding religious worship, acted at once and 
wisely in the spirit of the Roman law, and dismissed 
the case. The mob which the Jews had raised, the 
better to screen their own proceedings, finding that 
the new governor was not at all favourable to the pro- 
secution, turned on the men who had raised it, and 
beat Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, 
before the judgment seat. It may be worth while to 
observe that Gallio, the Roman governor who acted 
thus, was brother to the famous philosopher Seneca* 



CORINTH. 233 

and that the way in which he is represented as having 
acted on this occasion is in perfect harmony with the 
character which general history has ascribed to him. 
Thus, indirectly, we have another illustration of the 
accuracy of this part, at least, of St. Luke's narrative. 
Meantime the Apostle, protected by the law, continued 
to work and to preach, and the result was that many 
were added to the Church. 



" In the proud land of palaces wert thou 

Alone and matchless, as thine own fair queen 
Shines 'midst the gems of Night's star-crown' d brow, 
Veiling their dim rays with superior sheen. 

Thy countless columns gleam'd in rich array, 
The gifts of monarchs, and the work of men, 

Whose nobler names, when regal thrones decay, 
Shall boast the meed of Fame's recording pen." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

EPHESrS. 

Having tarried in Corinth yet a good while, after the 
Jews tried to induce the Roman authorities to put a 
stop to the Apostle's teaching, Paul resolved to go 
once more to Jerusalem. His object in going there 
was to be nresent at one of the Jewish feasts : and as 
his friends, Aquila and Priscilla, with whom he bad 
lived during his stay in Corinth, were about to leave 
for Ephesus, he started with them. 

Coming to Cenchrea, the port of Corinth, on the 
east, situated on the waters of the iEgean Sea, where 
persons sailing to Syria would embark, they found a 
vessel. But, before sailing, one of the party performed 
a religious ceremony which we cannot pass over in 
silence. It was customary, among the Jews, for per- 
sons to bind themselves by a vow, to perform in a given 
time, certain religious services in consequence of some 
mercy they had received, or some signal deliverance 
through which they had passed. These vows were in 
strict harmony with the spirit of the Jewish law; and 
it shows how difficult it was for men to emancipate 
themselves from the bondage of that law, when we read 
that either Paul or Aquila, one of his converts, had to 



236 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

shave his head, in consequence of such a vow, before 
sailing from Cenchrea. There is a little obscurity 
about St. Luke's mode of stating the fact, and critics 
are not agreed as to whether it was Paul or Aquila 
who had taken the vow. It seems to us, however, that 
it was the Apostle himself, and that this was the reason 
why he had to be present at the feast in Jerusalem. 
It is supposed by some to be inconsistent with St. 
Paul's character, as the uncompromising opponent of 
the Judaizers in the Church, to have taken such a vow; 
and, from the order in which the names are mentioned, 
there is ground for supposing that Aquila is the 
person meant. On the other hand, it should be borne 
in mind that, though the Apostle was zealous to pre- 
serve the liberty of his Gentile converts, he nowhere 
maintains that those who were born and educated 
under the law were free to cast off entirely their alle- 
giance to it. And it would appear that, to the last, 
St. Paul never quite gave up his own observance of 
parts of the ceremonial law. Being a Jew, he could 
conscientiously conform to many Jewish usages. The 
doing so gave him many privileges among his own 
countrymen, and he may have felt that certain parts of 
the ceremonial law were still binding on himself, though 
not on his Gentile converts. There is nothing more 
unreasonable in his shaving his head at Cenchrea 
than in his circumcising Timothy, or in the part he 
subsequently took in a temple ceremony at Jerusalem. 
But, where learned men are so much divided in opinion, 
it is not for us to be very dogmatic. It is enough if 
we say that, before sailing, either Paul or Aquila shaved 
his head in consequence of a religious vow. 



EPHESUS. 237 

From Cenchrea the Apostle and his friends, now at 
least fiye in number, for Titus had joined him, sailed 
through the islands of the Greek Archipelago to 
Ephesus. This v>-as, in all probability, the place the 
Apostle thought of visiting in Asia, when the Spirit 
led him on to Troas instead. The city of Ephesus 
was built on some hills, near the sea, at the mouth of 
the Cayster. The site was admirably chosen, and, in 
the time of St. Paul, Ephesus was the largest and most 
celebrated city of Asia Minor, as well as the capital of 
the Roman province of Asia. " Though Greek in its 
origin, it was half- oriental in the prevalent worship., 
and in the character of its inhabitants ; and being con- 
stantly visited by ships from all parts of the Mediter- 
ranean, and united by great roads with the markets of 
the interior, it was the common meeting-place of various 
characters and classes of men."*" 

But the great wonder of Ephesus was the Temple 
of Diana. It was built of white marble from the 
quarries of Mount Prion ; and, from its commanding- 
position at the head of the harbour, it could be seen 
by sailors a long way out at sea; and, when the sun 
shone upon it, it became an object of most dazzling 
brilliancy. This Temple was regarded by the ancients 
as one of the wonders of the world. The sun, it was 
said, in his course, looked down upon nothing more 
glorious. Though regarded by the inhabitants of 
Ephesus with deepest veneration, it was not built 
by them alone. All the Greek cities of Asia Minor 
contributed to the structure. And a strange story w ? as 
told about the discovery of the marble of which it was 
* Conybeare and Howson. 



238 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

built. A shepherd, named Pixodorus, was feeding his 
flock on Prion : two of the rams began to fight, and one 
of them rushing at the other missed his mark, and 
struck his horn through the turf, breaking open a crust 
of the whitest marble. The Ephesians were in search 
of stone for the building of their temple. The shep- 
herd dug up a specimen of the marble thus discovered, 
and ran with it to his fellow-citizens. He was received 
with unbounded joy, and his name changed intoEvan- 
gelus, or the giver of glad tidings. After his death 
divine honours were paid to him. The original temple 
was said to have been more than 200 years in building. 
It was burnt down on the same night that Alexander 
the Great was born ; but was afterwards rebuilt with even 
greater splendour. It was 425 feet in length, and 220 
in breadth. The shrine of the goddess was sur- 
rounded by a colonnade, open to the sky. The number 
of columns was 127. They were of Parian marble, each 
weighing 150 tons. They were 60 feet high, and each 
the gift of a king. Thirty-six of these columns were 
enriched with ornament and colour. The folding doors 
were of cypress-wood ; the part of the building not 
open to the sky was roofed over with cedar, and the 
roof was supported with columns of green jasper. The 
magnificent altar was from the chisel of Praxiteles; 
the staircase was made of the wood of one single vine 
from the island of Cyprus; the noblest pictures, some 
of which cost enormous sums of money, hung on the 
walls ; and among other statues was one of purs gold. 
" The value and fame of the temple were enhanced by 
its being the treasury in which a large portion of the 
wealth of Western Asia was stored up. It is probable 



EPHESUS. 239 

that there was no religious building in the world in 
which was concentrated a greater amount of admiration, 
enthusiasm, and superstition"* 

St. Paul's object was not to visit Ephesus, but to 
hold on his course to Jerusalem, in order that he might 
be in time for the festival. But the vessel in which he 
was sailing either went no further than. Ephesus, or 
waited there for a few days. Thus the Apostle had an 
opportunity of seeing the city in which his friends, 
Aquila and Priscilla, were coming to reside ; and, being 
there on the Sabbath-day, he went into the synagogue 
and reasoned with the Jews. He was pressed to make 
a longer stay, but refused, giving as his reason that he 
must keep the coming feast in Jerusalem. He made 
a promise, however, to return again before long, if it 
were God's will. He then took ship again, and, in 
company with Silas, Timothy, and Titus, sailed to 
Csesarea, from whence he and his friends travelled 
inland to Jerusalem. We are neither told whether he 
was in time for the feast, nor what took place in Jeru- 
salem while he was there ; save that he saluted the 
church. It would be useless to speculate as to what 
meetings with the other Apostles, and what discussions 
with the church on disputed points of doctrine and 
discipline, took place during the Apostle's visit to the 
city of his forefathers. But, from subsequent events, 
we should infer that St. Paul found the Judaizing 
party stronger than ever in Jerusalem, and that he also 
found a great deal of poverty among the disciples 
there. About the poverty, at least, there can be little 

* Conybeare and Howson. See also the description of Ephesus in 
The Footsteps of St. Paul. 



240 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

doubt ; for, from whatever cause, the Christians in 
Jerusalem were very poor. When the church was 
formed there, a community of goods was established. 
The rich men sold their property and cast the proceeds 
into a common fund. This was an act of heroism on 
their part, and, by the self-sacrificing spirit it dis- 
played, must have told powerfully in favour of the new 
faith ; but the question also suggests itself as to 
whether this community of goods may not have had 
something to do with the subsequent poverty of the 
Christians in Jerusalem. 

The Apostle's stay in the Jewish capital was a brief 
one. It would appear that he left Silas behind in 
Jerusalem, and accompanied by Titus and Timothy he 
travelled by land to Antioch, where he remained for 
some time, doubtless warming the hearts of the 
Christians there by the intelligence of what, by 
God's grace, he had been able to accomplish on 
his second missionary journey. Luke has given us 
no particulars as to what took place in Antioch during 
the time the Apostle remained there ; but it is at this 
time that we should be inclined to fix the date of that 
dispute with Peter, to which we have already alluded. 
From this time the Judaizing party seems to have 
offered a systematic opposition to St. Paul, following 
his steps whithersoever he went, and sowing the seeds 
of discord among his converts. We shall soon find 
them in Galatia, arid even in Corinth, preaching their 
narrow views and giving the Apostle more trouble, and 
causing him more sorrow, than all his other opponents 
put together. It seems more reasonable, therefore, to 
believe that Peter began to waver now, when the 



EPHESUS. 241 

Judaizing party was growing stronger, and therefore 
gaining more influence, than that he should have done 
so immediately after it had sustained a remarkable 
defeat, to which he had in no small degree contributed. 
It is not a matter of much moment which way we de- 
cide. But if the dispute with Peter took place before 
Paul started on his third missionary journey, then he 
must have met Barnabas again, and on friendly terms. * 
But soon the Apostle longs to depart once more, 
and visit the brethren in distant lands. Accordingly, 
St. Luke tells us that after Paul had spent some time 
in Antioch, he departed, and went over all the country 
of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the 
disciples. Then, instead of going down to Troas, a3 
he had done on his former journey, he held more to 
the south-west, and came to Ephesus. How long a 
period may have elapsed between the two visits, we 
cannot say ; but in the interval, " a certain Jew, named 
Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and 
mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus." The 
person here referred to was not, at that time, a Chris- 
tian, but a disciple of John the Baptist. There were 
many such in those days ; persons who were baptized 
into the faith, that the time of the Messiah's advent 
was at hand, and that all who would be prepared for 
his coming must repent of their sins and amend their 
lives. These disciples of John the Baptist were much 
more likely to embrace Christianity than any other 
section of the Jews, because their idea of the Messiah's 
kingdom was more like the Christian than the Jewish. 
Accordingly, when Apollos began to teach in the 

* See Neander's Planting of Christianity, chap. vii. 

U 



242 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

synagogue at Ephesus the baptism of John, St. Paul's 
friends, Aquila and Priscilla, at once perceived that 
he was a likely person to receive the fuller revelation 
that the Messiah had already come. They took him 
apart, therefore, and expounded to him the way of God 
more perfectly, and the result was, that he embraced 
Christianity. Soon after this, Apollos left Ephesus to 
go into Greece, and having letters from Aquila to the 
Christians in Corinth, he was received there by the 
brethren warmly, and soon became celebrated as an 
eloquent and powerful teacher of the new faith. 

While Apollos was at Corinth, St. Paul returned to 
Ephesus. Here he found more disciples of John the 
Baptist, who ap|>ear to have been recognized by the 
Christians as believers, though they had not "so much 
as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit." Some 
persons would explain this by saying that the disciples 
of John, being Jews, had not yet heard of the Holy 
Spirit as the third person in the Trinity. But it is 
impossible to believe (had St. Paul and the other 
Apostles taught a doctrine of the Trinity in opposi- 
tion to the fundamental doctrine of Judaism, the unity 
of God) that broad and distinct traces of the conflict 
which the first attempts to teach the doctrine in the 
Jewish synagogues must have given birth to, would 
not have appeared in the Acts of the Apostles and the 
Epistles. The Apostle was charged with setting aside the 
Jewish law and doing many things hostile to Judaism, 
but amidst all the controversies of that age we find no 
trace whatever of any dispute respecting the Trinity. 
But if it was not the personality of the Holy Spirit that 
these disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus had never 



EPHESUS. 243 

heard of, the question still remains, what did the 
Apostle mean when he asked them " Have ye re- 
ceived the Holy Spirit since ye "believed ?" and the 
answer to the question, it must he confessed, is not 
'very easily given. It is evident, however, hy the form 
of St. Paul's question, that the Holy Spirit was a 
something which the believers in Christianity were 
expected to receive after their conversion. It was a 
divine influence which was manifested in various ways 
through the lives of those who received it. The new 
religion brought an influx of spiritual life, and the 
hearts of believers were brought into closer contact 
with the Spirit of God. Many Jews believed that after 
the days of Zechariah and Malachi the Spirit of God 
departed from Israel, and would not come again as a 
divine power into the hearts of men until the days 
of the Messiah. Those were the times when Judaism 
became a dead faith — when men became zealous for 
the letter of the Law, but trampled on its spirit. Then 
God was only a tradition of the past, or a hope for the 
future — not an ever-present help in time of trouble. 
Then, too, their Old Testament was made an object of 
superstitious reverence, and men lost all notion of its 
true worth as a divine teacher. Now, it was one of 
Christ's promises to his disciples that, after his death, 
the Holy Spirit should descend upon their hearts, and 
make many things clear to them which were then ob- 
scure. And that the first converts to Christianity were 
distinguished by some remarkable spiritual manifesta- 
tions is an historical fact as certain as any on record 
pertaining to that age. What those mauifestations were, 
and whether they were miraculous, as many believe, or 

M 2 



244 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

only the natural results of intense spiritual excitement, 
are questions on which the learned are not agreed. 
But that they had something to do with the rapid 
spread of Christianity in apostolic times is a fact that 
few persons will be disposed to deny who have paid 
any attention to the subject. Another thing worthy 
of remark in connection with them is, that they were 
not confined to a few leaders in the Church, but were 
common to the believers. The most remarkable of all 
was called the gift of tongues, and seems to have been 
a kind of ecstacy in which the exercise of the under- 
standing was suspended, while the person subject to it 
uttered short sentences of prayer and praise, which some- 
times required an interpreter to explain them to the 
congregation. It is also remarkable, that though St. 
Paul recognizes these gifts, he recommends moderation 
in the exercise of them, and is ever ready to remind 
his converts of a better way to distinction in the 
Church — not by the display of special gifts, but by 
the abundance of that love, without which the highest 
gifts were little better than sounding brass, or a 
tinkling cymbal. 

When the Apostle asked those disciples of John the 
Baptist who had been admitted to the Church at 
Ephesus as believers, whether they had received the 
Holy Spirit, he certainly did not mean to ask them 
whether they had received the third person in the 
Trinity, but whether this divine influence, which was 
the gift of God to believers, had descended upon 
them. They answered in the negative, saying that 
they had only been baptized into the baptism of John. 
The Apostle then explained to them the difference be- 



EPHESUS. 245 

tween the teachings of John and Jesus, and showed 
them that if they were consistent disciples of the 
Baptist they would go a step further and believe on 
Christ, whose coming John had foretold. They did so, 
and were baptized in the name of Jesus. " And when 
Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit 
came on them, and they spake with tongues and pro- 
phesied/' 

Then Paul went into the Jewish synagogue and 
taught. His old friends Aquila and Priscilla were 
there; for though they are not mentioned by St. Luke 
in connection w T ith the Apostle's visit, yet they are 
mentioned in the letter which St. Paul wrote during his 
stay in Ephesus to the Church at Corinth. We are pro- 
bably not far wrong, then, in imagining that St. Paul 
took up his abode under the roof of his old friends, 
and resumed in connection with them his employment 
of making tents. He saw that there was a great work 
to be done in Ephesus, and that it w r ould be necessary 
for him to make a longer stay than usual there ; hence, 
that he might be burdensome to none, he resumed the 
labour by which he had supported himself in Corinth. 
But though the Jews in Ephesus appear to have 
allowed him the privilege of the synagogue for a longer 
time than they did in other places, yet the time came 
when here also they could bear with him no longer. 
But when they were cast out of the synagogue, a new 
place of meeting was found for himself and his friends, 
in the school of one Tyrannus. Here, for the space of 
two years, he continued daily to teach, so that many 
persons, both Jews and Greeks, heard the " word of 
the Lord Jesus/' It is recorded of St. Paul that 



246 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL, 

during this stay in Ephesus he worked many miracles 
in the name of the Lord Jesus, so that a band of 
travelling Jews, whose profession seems to have been 
that of working cures by magic and spells, were in- 
duced to make use of the same name as a means of 
casting out devils, or curing the kind of madness 
which was supposed to be caused by some evil power 
taking possession of the mind. They were not suc- 
cessful ; for the madman they were trying to cure 
turned on them, exclaiming '• Jesus I know, and Paul 
I know ; but who are ye ? " " And this was known to 
all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus, and 
fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus 
was magnified. And many that believed came and 
confessed, and showed their deeds. Many also of 
those who used curious arts, brought their books to- 
gether, and burned them before all men ; and they 
counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand 
pieces of silver." This was extremely characteristic of 
Ephesus. No city of the East was so celebrated for 
the practice of magic and the manufacture of magical 
books. These books were not works of instruction, 
but scrolls on which were written, in Cabalistic charac- 
ters, charms and incantations which were thought to 
be instrumental in curing disease and bringing good 
fortune to those who possessed them. Those who 
became Christians through the teachings of St. Paul 
were lifted above such superstitions. They could no 
longer, even by the sale of such books, take any 
part in a system which they now saw to be wholly 
wicked. Therefore they committed to the flames the 
instruments of an evil profession, and thus gave a 



EPHESUS. 247 

signal proof of the sincerity of their convictions. 
Some persons have found fault with what they did, 
maintaining that it would have been better for them to 
have sold the books, and applied the money to a chari- 
table purpose. To have done so, with their conviction 
of the sinfulness of the traffic in such things, would 
certainly have been wrong. On the other hand, we 
should not learn from their example to burn books 
because they assume an attitude hostile to Christianity. 
A religion which dreads free inquiry is not worth 
much; hence St. Paul's recommendation to " prove 
all things, and hold fast that which is good," can never 
become obsolete. 

While the Apostle was in Ephesus, it would appear 
that he heard of symptoms of disunion in the Church 
of Corinth. In the three or four years of his absence, 
three distinct parties at least had sprung up in the 
Corinthian Church. First, there was the Judaizing 
party, calling itself by the name of Peter; secondly, 
a party had sprung up under the influence of Apollos; 
and, thirdly, by far the largest portion of the Church 
still adhered to Paul. Many questions also of morals 
and of doctrine had arisen in the Apostle's absence. 
And now the congregation he had laboured so hard to 
establish, and which seemed to be by far the most im- 
portant of all the churches he had planted, was torn 
by factions, and marred by extravagances which would 
bring disgrace on the Christian name. It must have 
been a trying time for the Apostle; and when certain 
members of the Corinthian Church came to Ephesus 
with a letter to him, asking his opinion regarding 
some difficulties which they felt on the subject of 



248 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

marriage, sacrificial feasts, and spiritual gifts, he saw 
that the time was come to write and speak his mind 
regarding the evils that were springing up amongst 
them. Accordingly, the first Epistle to the Corin- 
thians was written towards the close of the third year 
of the Apostle's stay in Ephesus and the neighbour- 
hood. From some passages in this Epistle, it would 
seem that the Apostle had paid a brief visit to Corinth 
a short time before, and had found the state of things 
there even worse than he had expected. St. Luke says 
nothing about this visit, it is true, but he has passed 
over so many important incidents in the Apostle's life 
that we need not be much surprised at this. It has 
also been supposed that a previous letter had been sent 
from Ephesus by the Apostle to Corinth, which letter 
had been lost. Both these suppositions have their 
supporters and opponents. We allude to them because 
they seem to throw light on the Apostle's subsequent 
movements, and account for that weariness of spirit 
which came over him about this time. After all, every 
reader of the Epistles must feel that the " Acts " gives 
but a very fragmentary record of the manifold toils, 
trials, and sorrows of the great Apostle of the Gentiles. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



THE COLLECTION FOE THE POOB. 



M 3 



" Oh, brother man ! fold to thy heart thy brother, 
"Where pity dwells, the peace of Grod is there ; 
To worship rightly is to love each other, 

Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer. 

Follow with reverent steps the great example 
Of Him whose holy work was doing good ; 

So shall the wide earth seem our Father's temple, 
Each loving life a psalm of gratitude. 

Then shall all shackles fall ; the stormy clangour 
Of wild war music o'er the earth shall cease \ 

Love shall tread out the hateful fire of anger, 
And in its ashes plant the tree of peace." 

Whittier. 

" By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have 
love one to another." — John xii. 35. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE COLLECTION EOK THE POOR. 

The first Epistle to the Corinthians was written in 
Ephesus, while Timothy had gone to Macedonia with 
a message from the Apostle to his converts there, about 
a collection which he was making for the brethren in 
Jerusalem. The Epistle, therefore, w r as entrusted to 
Titus, a fellow-worker of St. Paul, about whom very 
little is known save that he was a Gentile convert. It 
is supposed by some that he was a native of Corinth, 
and, if so, there was a special fitness in his being the 
bearer of the Apostle's letter. Towards the conclusion 
of the Epistle, St. Paul declared it to be his intention 
to remain in Ephesus till Pentecost. His probable 
reason for wishing to do so was, that he might be in 
Ephesus at the time when the Ephesian games in 
honour of the goddess Diana were held. This cele- 
brated festival took place in May, and a whole month 
was usually devoted to it. To it came vast numbers of 
persons, some even from a great distance ; so that the 
city itself was quite filled, and the plain outside the 
walls was covered with goats -hair tents, affording a 
temporary shelter to those who could not find a better. 
The temple of Diana being regarded as one of the 



252 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

wonders of the world, everything pertaining to it pos- 
sessed a peculiar sanctity in the eyes of those who had 
any faith in the worship to which it was dedicated. It 
was a common practice with those who visited Ephe- 
sus, during the celebration of the great festival, to pur- 
chase models of the famous shrine. These models 
were regarded by many, doubtless, as mere works of 
art, and interesting only so far as they faithfully repre- 
sented one of the most beautiful buildings in the 
world. There were others, however, who looked upon 
them with very different eyes. To the devout wor- 
shipper of Diana, the models of her world-famous 
shrine were what the pictures of the saints became to 
the Eoman Catholics of the Middle Ages. A profit- 
able trade, therefore, was carried on in the city by 
those who manufactured those model-shrines, and vast 
numbers of persons depended on it for their living. 

It seems that the Apostle's teachings during the 
three years he had lived in Ephesus and the neigh- 
bourhood had begun to tell seriously on this trade. 
We can imagine its doing so, in two ways. It might 
affect the sale of those images, because, as the people 
were taught to know and to worship that God who 
made the heavens and the earth, and who dwelleth not 
in temples made with hands, they would naturally 
shrink from such contact with Paganism as the pur- 
chase of these shrines implied. But tbe Christians 
were still— in comparison with the bulk of the popula- 
tion — a small body, and the majority of them belonged 
to the poorer classes of society; to that class the mem- 
bers of which, for the most part, would have to be con- 
tent with one of the numerous wooden models of the 



THE COLLECTION FOR THE POOR. 253 

temple. It is difficult to believe that Christianity had 
already made such progress as to damage materially the 
trade in silver shrines. But it may have interfered 
with the trade in a way quite as injurious to Demetrius 
and other master- craftsmen; because, it is more than 
probable that numbers of their workmen would be 
converted to the new faith, and so be compelled to 
abandon an employment so closely associated with 
heathenism. Demetrius may have lost some of his 
best workmen at the time he was busy preparing for 
the great festival : hence his peculiar zeal in stirring up 
his fellow craftsmen against Paul. 

Be that as it may, there can be no doubt that 
Christianity was beginning to tell on the trade of 
shrine- and image-making. Demetrius's eyes were 
opened to the fact; he called his fellow-workmen to- 
gether, and made an appeal to them on behalf of their 
own craft and the worship of the great goddess Diana, 
which were brought into danger by the teachings of 
the Apostle. " Sirs/' said he, " ye know that by this 
craft we have our wealth. Moreover, ye see and hear, 
that not alone at Epbesus, but almost throughout all 
Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much 
people, saying that those are no gods, which are made 
with hands : so, that not only this our craft is in 
danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple 
of the goddess Diana should be despised, and her 
magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and 
all the world worship/* The address, of which this 
is but a brief outline, seems to have been admirably . 
fitted for the effect it was intended to produce. Deme- 
trius appealed at once to the selfishness and the devotion 



254 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

of his hearers, and his appeal was successful. The 
craftsmen of the silver shrines were excited, and, full 
of wrath and zeal, they cried out at the top of their 
voices : " Great is Diana of the Ephesians." The ex- 
citement soon spread through the city. A large mob 
was collected. Some of the ringleaders, apparently, 
went to the lodgings of Paul, with a view to bring him 
out to the fury of the mob ; but finding only Gaius 
and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's com- 
panions in travel, they dragged them along with 
them. 

The news soon reached the Apostle, and, anxious 
for the safety of his two friends, he would have pre- 
sented himself before the mob, but the disciples ear- 
nestly entreated him not to do so ; and certain of the 
chief men of the province, who were his friends, sent" 
him a pressing request that he would not endanger his 
life by appearing before the excited multitude in the 
theatre. The advice was wisely given and as wisely 
acted upon ; for, had the Apostle entered the theatre, 
he would certainly have endangered his own life, 
without being of the slightest use to his two friends. 
Meantime, the excitement of the mob continued to 
manifest itself in noise and clamour. St. Luke, in a 
few words, has left a most graphic picture of the scene. 
" Some cried one thing, and some another ; for the 
assembly was confused, and the greater part of those 
present knew not wherefore they were come together." 
At last, the Jews, eager to stimulate the persecution, 
and anxious to clear themselves of the charges brought 
against the Christians, put forth one of their number, 
who beckoned with his hand, and sought to address 



THE COLLECTION FOR THE POOK. 255 

the people. But when the multitude saw that it was 
a Jew who was about to speak, they knew that he could 
have nothing to say in defence of their worship, and, 
what was not unlikely, they may have associated him 
with the Apostle. At all events, they refused to hear 
him ; and, growing more and more excited, they kept 
shouting with one voice for the space of two hours : 
" Great is Diana of the Ephesians." But at last the 
storm began to calm down. Wild excitement, unless 
fed by some ever-fresh fuel, seldom continues long. 
And, as the tumult in the Ephesian theatre began to 
settle down, a person of great importance in the city 
took advantage of the calm to say a few words to the 
people. This person is called in our Bible the town- 
clerk ; but his office was one of much higher impor- 
tance than in these days we should associate with that 
name. He was, in fact, the Becorder and Chief Secre- 
tary of State, and had in charge the vast sums of 
money and other treasures which were kept in the 
temple. His speech shows that he must have been a 
man of great prudence, and one who had the rare tact 
of speaking wisely to men, even while their passions 
made them deaf to the claims of reason. "Ye men 
of Ephesus," said he, " what man is there who knoweth 
not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper 
of the great goddess Diana, and of the image w T hich 
fell down from Jupiter ? Seeing, then, that these 
things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, 
and do nothing rashly. For ye have brought hither 
these men, who are neither robbers of churches, nor 
yet blasphemers of your goddess. Wherefore, if De- 
metrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a 



256 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

matter against any man, the law is open, and there are 
deputies ; let them implead one another. But, if ye 
inquire anything concerning other matters, it shall be 
determined in a lawful assembly. For we are in danger 
to be called in question for this day's uproar, there 
being no cause whereby we may give an account of 
this concourse." This address, coming from a man of 
so much importance in the city, and being judiciously 
thrown in at the moment the first signs of reaction 
began to manifest themselves in the multitude, had the 
desired effect. The reasonableness of the advice given, 
and the fear expressed lest they should yet have to 
give an account of that day's proceedings, must have 
had a marked effect on the minds of many who were 
present. Taking advantage, therefore, of the impres- 
sion which he had made, the town-clerk dismissed the 
assembly. Though the immediate danger was thus 
over, and Paul's two friends were set free, nevertheless, 
all things showed that it would not be prudent in the 
Apostle to prolong his stay. This was, doubtless, a 
sad cause of disappointment to him, because it would 
appear that he had intended to remain in Ephesus 
till Titus returned from Corinth, w T ith intelligence of 
the w T ay in which the church there had received his 
first epistle. However, as Titus was to return through 
Macedonia, the Apostle, after taking an affectionate 
farewell of his friends in Ephesus, took his departure 
for Troas. It must have been a sad journey ; for 
though St. Luke has described it all in a few words, yet 
the Apostle, in his second letter to the Corinthians, 
alludes to his own state of mind in such a w T ay as 
to leave no doubt that he was weighed down with 



THE COLLECTION FOR THE POOE. 257 

trouble and sorrow. There was the recollection of 
the tumult in Ephesus, which had driven him forth 
from that city earlier than he had intended to 
leave. There were the discords and divisions in the 
Corinthian Church, coupled with the fear that the 
Corinthian Christians might not receive either his letter 
or his messenger with favour. Also, he seems to have 
been suffering from bodily disease. The Ephesians, 
however, did not permit him to travel alone, for two of 
their number went with him. When they arrived at 
Troas, the Apostle seems to have been expecting to 
meet Titus there, but, after waiting some time, appa- 
rently in a state of too great anxiety to allow him 
to do much, " his spirit being weighed down because 
he found not Titus/' he took ship and sailed to Nea- 
polis, and from thence travelled to Philippi. Here 
he found Timothy, and was warmly received by the 
Christians. It is worth observing that, among all the 
churches which the Apostle had planted, not one seems 
to have clung to him, through good report and through 
ill, so faithfully and affectionately as that of Philippi. 
It was neither a wealthy church nor a large one. Yet 
the members had again and again sent contributions 
which they insisted on the Apostle accepting. They 
did so when he was a prisoner in Rome ; and in the 
letter which St. Paul wrote to them from Eome we 
find " no censure and much praise/' But even the 
meeting of Timothy, and the warm reception of his 
kindest and most devoted friends, were not enough to 
dispel the gloom which hung over the Apostle's mind. 
He found not Titus, and his soul yearned for news 
from Corinth. Thus distrustful and oppressed, his 



258 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

"flesh had no rest," — he was "troubled on every side; 
without were fightings, within were fears." 

At last the long-looked-for day came. Titus arrived 
at Philippi, and brought more cheering intelligence 
from Corinth than the Apostle had hoped to receive. 
The majority of the Corinthian Church had been 
deeply impressed with his letter, and received Titus, 
his messenger, with open arms. So far all had gone 
well ; and the heavy load which weighed down the 
Apostle's mind was lightened. But mingled with this 
good news were other tidings not so satisfactory to the 
Apostle, yet partly anticipated by him. " The Jewish 
party at Corinth which claimed especially the name of 
Peter, and, apparently, that of Christ also, had, at the 
time of the first Epistle, been so insignificant in itself, 
or so insignificant when compared with the greater 
evil of the opposite party, as to call for only a few 
passing notices from the Apostle. It had, however, 
even then reached sufficient height to question his 
Apostolic authority ; and in the interval, apparently 
from the arrival of a new teacher, or teachers, with 
letters of commendation from some superior authority, 
probably from Jerusalem, the opponents of the Apostle 
had grown into a large and powerful party, consti- 
tuting even the majority of the teachers, openly assail- 
ing the Apostle's character, claiming almost despotic 
dominion over their followers, insisting on their own 
purely Jewish origin, and on their peculiar connection 
with Christ, on their Apostolic privileges, and on their 
commendatory letters. 

" These two subjects, the general acquiescence of the 
Corinthian Church in the Apostle's injunctions, and the 



THE COLLECTION FOR THE POOR. 259 

claims of the Judaizing party, must have been the 
chief topics of Titus' communication. The first and 
prominent feeling awakened in St. Paul's mind was 
ou e of overwhelming thankfulness for relief from the 
anxiety which he had, up to that moment, felt for the 
effects of his first Epistle ; next, indignation at the 
insinuations of his adversaries : to give vent to the 
double tide of emotion thus rising within him, was the 
main purpose, therefore, of the second Epistle. A third 
subject, of less importance, but one /which gave him 
a direct opportunity for writing, was the necessity of 
hastening the collection of the sums to be contributed 
by the Corinthians for the wants of the Christian poor 
in Judaea. He had already spoken of this in the close 
of his first Epistle; but his sense of the need of suc- 
cess had been further impressed upon him by the gene- 
rosity of the Macedonian churches, of which his 
recent stay among them had made him an actual 
witness." * 

From Philippi, therefore, the Apostle wrote his se- 
cond letter to the Corinthians, which he sent also by 
Titus, whose reception on the former occasion had been 
so enthusiastic that he joyfully undertook to be the 
bearer of the second letter, and, in company with se- 
veral others, he started again for Corinth, leaving the 
Apostle in Philippi, who, probably, intended to stay 
some time by the way in Thessalonica and Berea. 
The second Epistle to the Corinthians is much less 
systematic than the first. It contains the fervent out- 
pourings of a large-hearted man whose feelings have 

* Stanley on the Corinthians. 



260 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

been deeply moved. Anything more unlike a systematic 
treatise, therefore, it would be difficult to imagine. 
The earnestness with which he vindicates his claim to 
be an Apostle of Christ, and the touching picture of 
his own sufferings for the cause, make an impression 
on the mind never to be effaced. 

Very little now is known of St. Paul's journey 
through Macedonia. St. Luke merely tells us that 
(( when he had gone over those parts, and given them 
much exhortation, he came into Greece, and there 
abode three months." It would appear that he wanted 
a little time to elapse between the reception of his se- 
cond letter in Corinth and his own visit. He had also 
a twofold object to accomplish in Macedonia. There 
was the natural desire to see his old friends, and learn 
how the churches he had planted on a former visit 
were prospering ; and there was also the collection for 
the poor in the Jerusalem churches, which had become 
an object of the deepest importance in the Apostle's 
mind. The gulf was widening daily between the 
Jewish and Gentile sections of the Church; and St. 
Paul, whose sympathies were of the broadest kind, 
leplored this separation. He saw the great evil it 
would be to the cause he had so much at heart, if the 
Church was to be permanently divided into two parties 
mutually hating each other. The great idea, therefore, 
which filled his mind, at this period in his history, 
seems to have been the healing of this division. He 
felt, too, that a noble act of charity, on the part of the 
Gentile churches, would be a better test of the sin- 
cerity of their faith than any argument he could offer. 
Hence it seems clear that the Apostle regarded this 



THE COLLECTION TOR THE POOR. 261 

collection as a means of healing the division which he 
so much deplored, and which was beginning to assume 
so threatening an aspect. It would appear, too, that 
the Christians in Macedonia had been most liberal in 
their response to the Apostle's call. He had left 
Ephesus in the spring, and it was, probably, some 
time in the winter before he reached Corinth. But 
when he arrived' there a new sorrow awaited him. 
Intelligence had reached Corinth, by the direct route, 
of a more recent date than any he had lately received, 
to the effect that the Judaizers had been among his 
Galatian converts, teaching their doctrine of circum- 
cision, and unscrupulously descending to misrepre- 
sentation and falsehood in seeking to undermine the 
Apostle's influence. And, what was worse, they suc- 
ceeded in sowing seeds of discord and strife among 
that warm-hearted, impulsive people, who, on the 
Apostle's first visit to them, were ready to give their very 
eyes to him, such was their zeal to show him kindness. 
With deep sorrow in his heart, yet with strong indig- 
nation against those false leaders who were, through 
calumny and misrepresentation, creating divisions in 
the Church, the Apostle composed his Epistle to the 
Galatians. 

What the result of the Apostle's visit to Corinth 
was, we have no means of knowing. The edict for- 
bidding the Jews to live in Eome had been withdrawn, 
and Jews from all parts of the world had flocked 
back again. Among others, St. Paul's friends, Aquila 
and Priscilla, had returned ; and, doubtless, many like 
them, who had only sought a temporary resting-place 



262 SCENES EROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

in Corinth, had returned also. During their expulsion 
from Borne many of the Jews had become converted 
to Christianity, and when they returned they made 
open profession of the new faith. Thus a Church was 
formed in Eome, and soon, as in all heathen cities, 
large numbers of Gentiles were attracted to it. The 
Apostle at this time yearned to visit Home. He had 
some dear friends in the Church there, and he was 
known to all the Christians there at least by reputa- 
tion; it was natural therefore that when he was at 
Corinth, and on the direct way to the Imperial City, 
he should desire to go forward. But the collection 
was to be carried to Jerusalem, and it was a matter of 
the utmost importance that some fitting representative 
of the Gentile churches should be the bearer of that 
collection. St. Paul saw the importance of the occa- 
sion, and he was not the man to let any opportunity 
pass which might be turned to the advantage of 
Christ's cause. He accepted the offer to be the 
bearer of the collection to Jerusalem, and abandoned 
for the present the intention of visiting Rome. But 
before leaving Corinth he wrote his Epistle to the 
Eomans, and sent it by Phoebe, a Christian woman 
who lived in Cenchrea, and who was called, by some 
pressing business connected with a lawsuit, to the 
capital of the world. His reason for writing is partly 
explained by the desire he had to visit Rome, a desire 
he was still determined to carry into execution, though 
he now saw that he must return to Jerusalem first. 
That desire was accomplished, though in a way some- 
what different from what the Apostle expected. But 



THE COLLECTION TOR THE POOR. 263 

to him who rejoiced in his sufferings for the Church, 
because they helped to complete what was wanting 
in the sufferings of Christ for the redemption of the 
world,* every service which the Gospel of Truth laid 
on him was willingly accepted. 

* Colossians i. 24. 



* Not in vain, thou teacher bold, 
Unto us the tale is told 

Of thy day of trial ; 
Every age on him who strays 
From its "broad and beaten ways 
Pours its sevenfold vial. 

Happy he whose inward ear 
Angel comfortings can hear 

O'er the rabble's laughter ; 
And, while hatred's fagots burn, 
Glimpses through the smoke discern 

Of the good hereafter. 

Knowing this, that never yet 
Share of Truth was vainly set 

In the world's wide fallow : 
After hands shall sow the seed, 
After hands from hill and mead 

Reap the harvests yellow." 

Whittier. 



CHAPTEK XX. 

THE PATH OF DUTY. 

After three months* stay in Corinth and the neigh- 
bourhood, the Apostle began to think it was now time 
to return with the collection to Jerusalem. Week after 
week, the Corinthians had, for a year at least, been 
contributing towards this collection. The churches of 
Macedonia had given with their accustomed generosity, 
and other places, too, had probably contributed towards 
the fund, so that it had grown into a considerable 
sum. St. Paul, anxious that all things should be 
done openly, does not accept the sole charge of this 
fund, but resolves to take with him to Jerusalem re- 
presentatives of the various churches which had con- 
tributed. Thus his party had increased to seven or 
eight, at least, by the time he thought of leaving 
Corinth. He had left Ephesus towards the end of 
spring the year before ; the summer and early winter 
he had spent in Macedonia ; and after passing three 
months in Corinth and the neighbourhood, it was 
spring once more when he thought of leaving. The 
purpose of the Apostle and his friends was to take 
ship at Cenchrea and sail directly for Syria, which 
was by far the most natural route for them to take, 
entrusted, as they were, with so large a sum of 
money. But a circumstance arose which frustrated 

N 



266 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

this plan. It was kuown, doubtless, to most of the 
Jews what the nature of the Apostle's mission to 
Jerusalem was. Their hatred, always strong, was 
roused to a higher pitch, as they thought of Paul 
returning to Jerusalem with so ample a testimony 
of the goodwill of the Gentile converts towards 
their poorer brethren in the Holy City. They re- 
solved, therefore, to prevent the Apostle from return- 
ing, and entered into a conspiracy to lie in wait for 
him by the way. The knowledge of this plot coming 
to the ears of Paul and his friends, they resolved to 
frustrate it by going through Macedonia, and taking 
ship at Neapolis or Troas. They apparently left 
Corinth a little earlier than they at first intended, 
passed quickly through Berea and Thessalonica, and 
came to Philippi. Here they found Luke; and St. 
Paul, sending his companions on before him to Troas, 
staid with the Philippians eight days, till after the 
feast of the Passover. Then he and Luke took ship 
at Neapolis to cross the iEgean to Troas, but either 
from adverse winds, or a calm, the voyage, which 
had been performed on a former occasion in two 
days, was extended to five. The Apostle was in 
haste to reach Jerusalem before the feast of Pente- 
cost, which was in May, and it was now April, but he 
could not leave Troas without bearing witness for the 
great cause, to advance which was now the main object 
of his life. His first visit to Troas was very short, 
for our readers may remember that it was here that 
the vision of "a man from Macedonia stood by his 
bedside in the night, saying, ' Come over and help us.' " 
When he visited Troas the second time, he was so 



THE PATH OF DUTY. 267 

weighed down with sorrow by the many troubles 1 e 
saw coming upon the Church, and so perplexed 
because he found not Titus, that he could not avail 
himself of the door that was unexpectedly opened 
for him to preach the Gospel in Troas. Now, how- 
ever, he had a few days to spare before the ship 
sailed for Syria, and he gladly made use of them in 
preaching the word. Nay, so eager was he to make the 
most of the time thus providentially allotted to him, 
that the night before the ship was to sail he met the 
disciples, and continued his discourse till midnight. 
This is the only meeting in Troas of which St. Luke 
has given us any particulars, and in a few words he 
brings the scene before the mind so vividly that it 
is easy to realize what it must have been. It was a 
Sunday evening, and the disciples were met to break 
bread in commemoration of Jesus. The place was an 
upper room ; there were many lights, and the room was 
crowded. A young man named Eutychus sat in a 
balcony or window recess. It was midnight, and the 
Apostle had not yet finished his address. He knew 
the ship was to sail on the following morning, and he 
was naturally anxious to make the most of the few re- 
maining hours. But the lateness of the hour, and the 
closeness of the room were too much for even an 
Apostle's eloquence altogether to overcome. Tired 
nature began to assert her claim to rest, and Eutychus, 
sitting in the balcony, fell asleep. It was a dangerous 
place to sit in even when awake, and now, when he was 
asleep, doubly so. He fell, therefore, to the floor un- 
derneath, " and was taken up dead." The consterna- 
tion must have been very great, as the words " He is 

n 2 



268 SCENES EROM THE LIEE OE ST. PAUL. 

dead" passed from one to another in the crowded as- 
sembly. But the Apostle came down, and having bent 
over the prostrate body of the young man, rose again 
with the comforting assurance that his life was still in 
him. This incident must have made a deep impression 
on the minds of all present. The way in which St. 
Luke tells it leaves little doubt about his having been 
an eye-witness. Most critics suppose that the young 
man was actually dead, and that his life was restored 
by a miracle. The narrative of Luke, however, will 
equally bear the more rational interpretation that no 
miracle was intended. The young man was taken up 
in a state of insensibility, and the cry ran through the 
assembly, " He is dead." The Apostle came down 
from the platform or pulpit from which he had been 
speaking, and having bent over Eutychus, rose again, 
saying, " Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in 
him." In other words, " Be comforted, for he is not 
really dead." This is the way in which some com- 
mentators explain the matter, and it seems to us the 
true one. 

After this exciting scene, the Apostle again as- 
cended the platform from which he had been speaking, 
and on which were probably seated Luke, Timothy, 
and the other friends who were to accompany St. Paul 
to Jerusalem. Then the whole assembly having 
supped* together, the Apostle continued his address 
till the dawn of day. The congregation then separated, 
and St. Paul's companions took ship at once and 
sailed from Troas, but the Apostle himself, anxious to 

* The act of communion was combined, as was usual in the apostolic 
age, with a common meal. — Conybeare and Howson. 



THE PATH OF DUTY. 269 

spend the last moments with his friends in Troas, had 
resolved to walk to Assos, a distance of about twenty- 
miles. 

It would appear that he took this journey alone. 
There was a good Roman road all the way. The oak 
woods through which he probably passed were then in 
leaf, and spring flowers would greet him from the 
roadside. It may be that this journey was under- 
taken partly through the desire to be alone. In 
the midst of a busy life, such as we know that the 
Apostle lived, it is not unreasonable to suppose that 
his spirit must have yearned many times for solitude. 
The Christian worker is fitted for his trial by many 
unseen sources of strength, but none is more potent 
than that silent communion with the Spirit of God 
which he enjoys when alone in the presence of nature, 
or in the privacy of his closet. If Jesus sought the 
Father on the lone mountain -top in the silent watches 
of the night, might we not suppose that the Apostle, 
after the seven days of his preaching and teach- 
ing in Troas, had a special reason for taking this 
lonely walk of twenty miles before he joined the ship ? 
He was enabled to do this because the voyage round 
Cape Lectum was nearly twice as far as his journey 
by land. 

At Assos he was taken on board the ship. No 
delay seems to have taken place. The ship held on 
her southward way, keeping near the shore. They 
came next to Mitylene, the chief city of Lesbos, an 
island lying a short distance from the coast of My si a. 
" And we sailed thence/' continues St. Luke, " and 



270 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

came the next day over against Chios ; and the next 
day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium ; 
and the next day we came to Miletus." All this is 
described with the minuteness of an eye-witness. 

At Miletus the vessel staid a short time, but the 
Apostle, anxious to reach Jerusalem in time for the 
festival now at hand, does not risk a journey to 
Ephesus himself, much as he longed to see his friends 
there. The distance was some twenty miles, and the 
vessel might sail before he could get back. But 
he sent a message desiring the elders of the Ephesian 
Church to come and meet him. They made haste to 
obey the summons of their beloved teacher, and were 
in time to receive his parting blessing, and hear his 
farewell address. Somewhere on the shore, we can 
imagine the little band of loving friends and faithful 
disciples assembled. Their joy in this unexpected 
meeting was somewhat dashed by the mournful 
thought that this was probably the last time they 
would see one to whom they were so deeply indebted. 
The Apostle's mind was evidently impressed with the 
idea that he would never be at Ephesus again, pro- 
bably because it seems to have then been his intention 
to visit Eome after he had delivered up the collection 
to the Church at Jerusalem, and from Eome to pro- 
ceed to Spain — perhaps, too, because he was aware 
of the dangerous mission he had undertaken in going 
to Jerusalem to the coming feast. He knew how 
much the minds of the Jews were stirred up against 
him, and how exaggerated accounts of his labours 
had well nigh alienated the Jewish Church from him. 



THE PATH OF DUTY. 271 

A kind of prophetic warning of what was in store for 
him tinges with sadness the address delivered to the 
overseers of the Ephesian Church on the shore of 
Miletus. 

" Ye know/' said he, t€ after what manner I have 
conducted myself with you at all seasons, from the 
first day that I came into Asia; serving the Lord with 
all lowliness of mind, and with tears and trials, which 
befell me by the plotting of the Jews ; and that I 
have not kept back anything that was profitable, but 
have declared it to you, and have taught you pub- 
licly, and from house to house ; testifying both to 
Jews and Greeks repentance towards God, and faith 
towards our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I 
go, bound in spirit, to Jerusalem, not knowing the 
things that will befall me there : save that the Holy 
Spirit testifieth to me in every city, saying that bonds 
and afflictions await me. But of none of these things 
make I anv account : neither do I esteem mv life dear 

1 ' ml 

to myself, so that I may but finish my course with 
joy, and the ministry which I have received from the 
Lord Jesus, to bear testimony to the gospel of the 
grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, 
among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of 
God, will see my face no more. Wherefore I declare 
unto you this day, that I am clear of the blood of all : 
for I have not refrained from declaring unto you the 
whole counsel of God. Take heed, therefore, unto 
yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy 
Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of 
the Lord, which he hath purchased with his own 
blood. For I know this, that after my departure, 



272 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

grievous wolves will enter in among you, not sparing 
the flock. Yea, from among your own selves men will 
arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the 
disciples after them. Watch, therefore, and remember, 
that for the space of three years I ceased not to 
admonish every one of you, night and day, with tears. 
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to 
the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, 
and to give you an inheritance among all those who 
are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver, or 
gold, or apparel; ye yourselves know that these hands 
have ministered unto my necessities, and to those who 
were with me. I have shown you in all things that 
we ought, by so labouring, to assist the infirm, and to 
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 
' It is more blessed to give than to receive/ 

" And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down 
and prayed with them all. And they all wept sorely, 
and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him ; sorrowing 
most of all for the words which he had spoken, that 
they should see his face no more ; and they con- 
ducted him on his way unto the ship/' * 

The pathos of Paul's last words is very touching. 
After they had launched from Miletus, they sailed 
with a straight course to Coos, and the following day 
to Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara. Here they 
left the ship which had brought them in safety thus 
far, and embarking in another that was sailing over 
to Phoenicia, they passed Cyprus, leaving it to the left 
hand, and landed at Tyre, in Syria. Here the ship 
had to unload her burden, and the Apostle, finding 
* Acts xx. 18—38. 



THE PATH OF DUTY. 273 

disciples, staid with them seven days. These dis- 
ciples warned him against going to Jerusalem. But 
the Apostle was not to be turned from his purpose. 
When the seven days had expired, and the ship was 
again ready to sail, the Christians of Tyre came with 
their wives and their little ones, to bid the Apostle and 
his friends good-bye. And they all kneeled down on 
the shore and prayed. A most touching farewell, 
truly ! " And when we had taken leave of one 
another," continues St. Luke, "we took ship, and they 
returned home again. And when we had finished 
our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais and 
saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day. 
And the next day we departed, and came to Csesarea, 
and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who 
was one of the seven deacons, we abode with him." 

Here they tarried some days, and a certain prophet 
named Agabus came down from Jerusalem. This is 
apparently the same person who foretold the famine 
in Jerusalem, when the Church at Antioch made a 
collection, and sent it by the hands of Paul and Bar- 
nabas. We have already said that in the New Testa- 
ment sense of the word, f a prophet/ does not neces- 
sarily mean a foreteller of events, but simply a teacher 
who was accustomed to address the people, and more 
especially one who did so in a fervent, earnest manner. 
Here, however, again, Agabus is associated with the 
foretelling of an event. He came to the house of 
Philip, where the Apostle and his friends were staying, 
and in the course of conversation he took Paul's 
girdle, bound his own hands and feet with it, and 
said, -" Thus saith the Holy Spirit, So will the Jews at 

N 3 



274 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle; and 
they will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles." 
There is some difference, it must be admitted, between 
such a prediction as this, and the foretelling of a 
famine when it is near at hand. Yet even in this case, 
there is no need to suppose that Agabus was speaking 
from supernatural illumination. He had just come 
down from Jerusalem, and was well acquainted with 
the state of feeling there regarding St. Paul, both 
among the Jews and the disciples. In speaking as he 
did, therefore, he may simply have been declaring his 
conviction that if the Apostle persisted in going to 
Jerusalem, he would be imprisoned. This conviction 
harmonized entirely with the Apostle's own feeling. 
He had said farewell to the elders of Ephesus mourn- 
fully, as if he did not expect to see them again, and 
the conviction gained ground in his mind the nearer 
he drew towards Jerusalem, that it was dangerous for 
him to proceed. He was now within three days' jour- 
ney of the Holy City, and his friends, strengthened by 
the warning of Agabus, renewed their entreaties that 
he would not visit Jerusalem at that time, but be care- 
ful of his life, and proceed no farther. The Apostle's 
resolution was not to be so easily shaken. This 
was evidently, in his own opinion, no ordinary visit to 
Jerusalem, but one on which the internal peace and 
future well-being of the infant Church depended. To 
have shrunk from it then, for fear of the conse- 
quences, would have been cowardly. u What mean ye, 
therefore, to weep and to break my heart ?" he ex- 
claims; "for I am ready not to be bound only, but 
also to die at Jerusalem for the Lord Jesus." Brave 



THE PATH OF DUTY. 275 

and beautiful words for a man to utter in the circum- 
stances in which the Apostle w^as placed ! They are 
not the words of one eagerly desiring to rise above the 
crowd, and courting martyrdom for the glory which it 
sheds on the martyred one. The deep tenderness and 
pure human feeling which they reveal, are their most 
striking characteristics. The Apostle was deeply 
moved by the kindness of his friends, which was mani- 
fested in their earnest regard for his welfare. He saw 
them weeping around him, and his own heart was like 
to break. But duty was more sacred than friendship; 
and whatever sacrifices- it demanded, St. Paul w T as 
prepared to give. Therefore, he entreated his friends 
not to break his heart; not to make the sacrifice 
heavier than was necessary, for he was willing not 
only to be bound, but even to die, at Jerusalem, bearing 
witness for the Lord Jesus. 

If any of our readers are inclined to think th&t the 
Apostle's ordinary prudence forsook him here, and to 
imagine that it would have been better had he, as on 
many former occasions, turned aside from the danger 
till the storm had blown over, w r e ask them to contrast 
the circumstances in w^hich he was here placed wdth 
those on other occasions, when he prudently turned 
away from the danger. We saw r , that in Damascus, the 
disciples let him down from a house on the wall in a 
basket. And when he came to Jerusalem, after his 
conversion, he was in danger of being murdered by 
some of the more bigoted Pharisees ; but as soon as 
the plot was discovered he consented to the entreaties 
of the disciples, and fled to Tarsus. So likewise at 
Thessalonica, Berea, and many other places, he had 



276 SCENES PROM THE LIEE OF ST. PAUL. 

prudently avoided persecution. Nevertheless, the 
Apostle did not always seek to avoid danger. He was 
scourged and imprisoned at Philippi ; he was stoned 
and left for dead at Lystra ; he hraved a Jewish perse- 
cution at Corinth, and, in the expressive language of 
St. Luke, "tarried there yet a good while." At Ephesus 
the Apostle faced boldly the storm raised by Deme- 
trius and the craftsmen of the silver shrines, and 
would have entered the theatre, at the manifest risk of 
his own life, to save, if possible, his friends. But so 
far was Paul from being a fanatic, ever courting mar- 
tyrdom, that he invariably shunned persecution when 
he could do so without proving false to the trust re- 
posed in him. At Ccesarea the Apostle's worst fears 
were oonfirmed as to the danger that awaited him in 
Jerusalem. He was not indifferent to the kindness of 
his friends, for their entreaties almost broke his heart; 
but his purpose was not in the least shaken. To 
Jerusalem he would go, though bonds or even death 
awaited him. It was the path of duty, and he who 
had been in perils by land and sea and among false 
brethren, knew by experience that this path was not 
always strewed with flowers. The Gentile churches 
had entrusted to him the collection they had made for 
their poorer brethren in Palestine, and the Apostle 
felt that as he was going to Jerusalem to perform on 
behalf of his Gentile converts an act of true Christian 
charity, this was a favourable opportunity for him 
to make an effort to bridge over that gulf which was 
gradually widening between the Jewish and Gentile, 
churches. He had begun to feel, too, that if some- 
thing were not done speedily, the peace of the Church 



THE PATH OF DUTY. 277 

would be destroyed, and the spread of Christianity 
woefully retarded. There had been many false re- 
ports of the Apostle's doings circulated at Jerusalem. 
The best possible way of correcting these reports was 
to meet his accusers face to face, and to make known 
to the brethren at Jerusalem the wonders that God 
had done by him. A high sense of duty, then, self- 
respect, and every honourable feeling, combined to 
make the journey to Jerusalem a necessary one ; and 
though, like a true man, the Apostle does not shrink 
from incurring the risk, yet it is beautiful to think of 
him as having a heart so tenderly susceptible, so alive 
to all pure human emotions, as to be moved by the 
tears of his friends. 

This last journey of St. Paul to Jerusalem will 
probably recall to the minds of our readers another 
journey to the same city, when one, greater than Paul, 
and whose disciple the Apostle was, set his face firmly, 
and for the last time also, to go to the Holy City. 
He, too, by his brave words and noble deeds, had in- 
curred the hatred of the Pharisees, but he kept his 
face towards Jerusalem, and went boldly forward, 
though the scoff of the bigoted multitude, the cross, 
and the crown of thorns, were the only recompense 
which that age could bestow on the mightiest teacher 
who had ever sought to bless and enlighten the world. 
Are we wrong then, in saying that this last journey of 
St. Paul's to Jerusalem, proves that the Apostle was in 
no small degree filled with the spirit of his master? 
We have fixed the attention of our readers upon it, 
because it seems to us one of those landmarks in the 
Apostle's career which, like his conversion, and his 



278 SCENES FEOM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

quick response to the call of Barnabas, indicated the 
direction in which all the currents of his life were 
flowing. St. Luke's outline of this journey gives us 
a noble picture of Paul, the brave, earnest missionary 
of the cross. But as if the picture would be too 
exalted for human eye to gaze upon, the painter has, 
by. one or two most natural touches, so laid bare the 
inner heart of the Apostle, that we see the purest and 
truest human feeling working there. Thus, instead of 
looking at a cold, lifeless abstraction, we see a human 
being formed of the same flesh and blood with our- 
selves. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



JERUSALEM. 



' Put thou thy trust in God ; 
In duty's path go on ; 
Fix on His truth thy steadfast eye, 
And let His will be done. 

Give to the winds thy fears ; 

Hope, and be undismay'd : 
God hears thy sighs, and counts thy tears ; 

God shall lift up thy head. 

Through waves, and clouds, and storms, 

He gently clears thy way ; 
Wait thou His time — the darkest night 

Shall end in brightest day." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

JERUSALEM. 

The Apostle did not remain long in Ceesarea after 
the event took place which we noticed at the conclu- 
sion of the preceding chapter. When his friends saw 
that he would not be persuaded, they gave way, saying, 
" The will of the Lord be done/' Then, taking up their 
baggage, the Apostle and his companions started for 
Jerusalem, taking with them Mnason, of Cyprus, an 
old disciple, with whom they were to lodge in Jerusalem. 
It was early in May, and wanted only a few days to 
the Feast of Pentecost. Multitudes of Jews from all 
parts of Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, and even from 
the more distant cities of Europe, would be assembled 
in Jerusalem, all, like the Apostle himself, going thither 
to be present at the feast. 

St. Luke gives us no particulars of the journey from 
Caesarea, neither does he allude in any way to St. 
Paul's frame of mind, but we can well imagine that 
a sense of impending danger to their great leader 
tinged with sadness the whole company. But when 
they came to Jerusalem the brethren received them 
gladly, and so far all appeared to go well. The next 



282 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

day, the Apostle and his companions had an interview 
with the elders of the Jewish Church, at the house of 
James. They saluted him, and then listened with deep 
interest while he gave them a particular account of 
what things God had wrought among the Gentiles 
by his ministry. And when they heard it they glori- 
fied the Lord. At the same time, they reminded Paul 
of the fact, that a great number of the Jews who 
believed on Jesus, were, nevertheless, still, zealous up- 
holders of the law. They also warned the Apostle of 
the many reports in circulation regarding his doings in 
Gentile cities, saying : " The brethren are informed of 
thee, that thou teachest all the Jews who are among 
the Gentiles to forsake the law of Moses ; telling them 
neither to circumcise their children, nor to walk after 
the customs/' This report was false, yet it had such 
an air of truth in it, that it is not difficult to imagine 
how it originated. The Apostle had taught openly 
that Gentiles might become Christians without first 
becoming Jews ; so far, therefore, he had made the 
Jewish law and customs of no avail. The transition 
was easy for those Jews who felt the bondage of the 
law, to a state of greater spiritual freedom. If the 
Gentiles could be saved without conforming to the law, 
why could not the Jews ? Men brought so near 
to a state of freedom, were not likely to remain long 
in bondage. But St. Paul did not teach the Jews to 
throw aside the law. It was his principle that no 
one should relinquish the national and civil relations 
in which he stood at his conversion, unless for impor- 
tant reasons; and on this principle, he allowed the 



JEErSAIEM. 283 

Jews to retail] their peculiarities, among which was the 
observance of the Mosaic law.* Thus, in his First 
Epistle to the Corinthians, he says: "Is any man 
called being circumcised ? let him not become uncir- 
cumcised. Is any man called in uncircumcision ? let 
him not be circumcised. "f This was an attitude suited 
only to a transition state, for men who did not believe 
in the universal obligation of the law would soon learn 
to throw off their allegiance to it. Hence, it is not un- 
likely that some of the Apostle's converts had prac- 
tically gone further than their teacher in this respect, 
and thus, in some measure, justified the report in 
circulation. 

To allay the prejudices which this report had raised 
against the Apostle, he was recommended by the elders 
of the Jerusalem Church to take part with four young 
men in the ceremony of purification. The advice given 
is thus recorded by St. Luke : — "Do therefore this that 
we say unto you : We have four men who are under a 
vow ; take them and purify thyself with them, and 
bear the charges for them, that they may shave their 
heads : and so all will know that there is nothing in 
those things which the people have been told concern- 
ing thee ; but that thou thyself also walkest regularly 
in the observance of the law." % This advice was very 
natural. The Apostle himself was accustomed to con- 
form to many of the requirements of the Jewish law, 
and four years before— if we are right in supposing 
that it was Paul who shaved his head at Cenchrea — 
he had himself come to Jerusalem under a similar vow 
to that by which the four young men were bound. 

* Neander. + 1 Cor. vii. 18. £ Acts xxi. 23> 24. 



284 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

The ceremony was one of very great importance among 
the Jews; and no charitable act was regarded with 
more favour than that of assisting those who were poor 
in paying the necessary temple expenses connected with 
the keeping of these vows. The best refutation, there- 
fore, of the reports in circulation regarding the Apostle, 
would be, so thought the Jerusalem elders, for Paul 
to go into the temple, and publicly take part in this 
Jewish ceremony. But the advice was hardly prudent. 
We may not go the length of John Knox, who, in con- 
demning the recommendation on which the Apostle 
acted, says that " He was brought into the most des- 
perate danger he ever sustained : God designing to 
shew thereby that we must not do evil that good 
may come " ; yet we must admit that the course 
recommended was at best a compromise. Paul did 
not take part with the four young men from any spe- 
cial interest either in them or in the ceremony they 
were about to perform, but to promote an object very 
different indeed, which he had much at heart. Like 
most compromises of the kind, it not only failed to 
produce the effect intended, but helped in no small 
degree to hasten the crisis which it was designed to 
prevent. 

Jerusalem was crowded with Jews, many of whom, 
in their zeal for the law, had come a great distance to 
be present at the feast. There must have been many 
there who knew Paul, and who had contended against 
him in the Gentile cities of Asia Minor and Europe. 
To see one, therefore, who had preached openly to the 
Gentiles, taking part in the most sacred ceremonies of 
the temple, naturally excited their indignation. They 



JERUSALEM. 285 

at once thought that the Apostle was about to bring 
Greeks into the temple, and thereby profane the Holy 
Place. Fearful of this, they raised a tumult. The 
people were excited, and moved to lay their hands on 
the Apostle, which they did, dragging him from the 
Holy Place to the outer court of the temple. Here, 
the infuriated multitude began beating him, with the 
full intention of putting him to death, forgetting, 
doubtless, in their excitement, that the Koman sentinels, 
who kept watch over the cloisters and on the tower of 
the temple, were overlooking the scene. The soldiers 
saw that it was no common riot. A messenger was 
immediately dispatched to the governor of the garri- 
son, informing him of what was going on — " that all 
Jerusalem was in an uproar." The Castle of Antonia, 
where Claudius Lysias, the chief captain, would be 
found, was on the north-western side of the temple. 
The governor was therefore at hand, and, as no time 
was to be lost, he appeared at once in the temple-court 
with a strong body of soldiers. The people no sooner 
saw them than they left off beating Paul, who, being 
evidently the chief cause of the uproar, was at once 
taken into custody. He was chained by each hand to 
a Roman soldier. Then Lysias began to question the 
multitude as to who Paul was and what he had done; 
but some cried one thing and some another, and all 
was confusion. The chief captain, finding it utterly 
impossible to get at the certainty of the charge against 
the Apostle while the excitement was so great, ordered 
the soldiers to take the prisoner at once to the castle. 

An impostor not long before this, had arisen, and, 
professing to be the Jewish Messiah, had persuaded 



286 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

a large number of persons to follow him, promising that 
they should see the walls of Jerusalem fall at his com- 
mand, and that a way would thus be opened for him to 
make a triumphant entry into the Holy City. The 
multitude thus drawn together, being attacked by the 
Roman soldiers, fled in every direction. A great 
number were slain, but the leader, who had been the 
cause of all the mischief, made his escape. A reward 
was offered for his apprehension ; and as search was 
being made for him at the time the tumult arose which 
brought Claudius Lysias and his Roman soldiers so 
promptly into the outer court of the temple, the 
chief captain — not being able to find out the cause 
of the tumult, yet hearing enough to convince him 
that it had something to do with Jewish laws 
and customs — naturally concluded that Paul was the 
Egyptian impostor who had misled the people on a 
former occasion. Hence the strictness of the orders he 
gave regarding the prisoner. The Apostle was hurried 
along by his guard of Roman soldiers ; but so great was 
the excitement of the multitude, that he was actually 
carried up the stairs, in consequence of the violent pres- 
sure from below, while the air was rent by the shouts 
of the maddened people, crying, " Away with him ! " 

But, amidst all this excitement, the Apostle did not 
lose his presence of mind. When a favourable oppor- 
tunity offered itself, he turned to the commanding 
officer, and, addressing him, said, " May I speak 
with thee ? " Lysias was startled when he found him- 
self addressed by his prisoner in Greek, and imme- 
diately expressed his astonishment, asking, at the same 
time, whether Paul was not that Egyptian who had 



JERUSALEM. 287 

been the ringleader of the late rebellion ? The Apostle 
replied that he was no Egyptian, but a Jew of Tarsus, 
and a citizen of no mean city. He then requested 
leave to speak to the people. The request was a bold 
one, but it was granted. The curiosity of Lysias was 
evidently excited, and probably he hoped to hear more 
of his prisoner. " And now the whole scene was 
changed in a moment. St. Paul stood upon the stairs, 
and turned to the people, making a motion with his 
hand as if about to address them. The influence of 
his presence was felt. Tranquillity was restored among 
the people below. There was a ' great silence/ and he 
began saying, i Brethren and fathers, hear me, and let 
me defend myself before you/ 

"The language which he spoke was Hebrew. Had 
he spoken in Greek, the majority of those who heard 
him would have understood his words ; but the sound 
of the holy tongue in that holy place fell like a calm 
on the troubled waters." * The silence became uni- 
versal and breathless, and the multitude listened to a 
rapid sketch of the Apostle's early life and conversion. 
Doubtless there were some in the crowd below able to 
verify, in part at least, much that he said. He told 
them how piously he had been brought up in the law 
of their fathers ; and how he had persecuted the 
Christians. He gave an account of his journey to 
Damascus, describing minutely the scene that took 
place by the way, and appealed to the high priest, who 
was still alive, and to the estate of the elders, in con- 
firmation of the fact that he had been entrusted with 
such a commission. With his usual prudence he kept 

* Conybeare and Howson. 



288 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

that part of his address to the last, which he knew 
would be most offensive. The whole scene must have 
been an impressive one. The speaker was a prisoner 
in chains. Around him were the Eoman soldiers who 
formed his guard : beneath him, in the temple-court, 
was a vast multitude of Jews from all parts of the 
world, still heaving from recent excitement, but awed 
into temporary silence by the speaker's earnestness. 
The people heard him quietly until he came to speak of 
his mission to the Gentiles ; then the storm burst forth 
again with redoubled fury, and the speaker's voice was 
drowned amidst maddening cries of " Away with him ; 
away with him ! it is not fit that such a fellow should 
live ! " The prisoner was now safe from their fury in 
the hands of his Eoman guard, but the multitude, 
after the fashion of those times, manifested their rage 
and disappointment by rending their clothes, and 
casting dust into the air. 

The chief captain had not been able to understand 
the Apostle's Hebrew speech. He could not, there- 
fore, comprehend the scene before him ; but gathering 
from the conduct of the people that the prisoner had 
been guilty of some awful crime, he ordered the guard 
to bring him into the castle and examine him by 
scourging. But the Apostle was saved from this in- 
dignity by a timely putting forth of the same claim as 
had brought the Philippian magistrates to his prison 
to beg him that he would depart. As the soldiers 
were binding him with thongs, Paul said to the cen- 
turion, who stood by, " Is it lawful for you to scourge 
a Eoman citizen, uncondemned?" The centurion at 
once warned the chief captain, saying, " Take heed 



JERUSALEM. 289 

what thou doest; for this man is a Roman." Claudius 
Lysias was still more perplexed by this intelligence, 
but the magic of the Roman name took effect in a 
moment. The chief captain came to the prisoner, 
and said, " Tell me, art thou a Roman ?" Paul re- 
plied in the affirmative. The command was at once 
given to unbind him, and those who had been sum- 
moned to examine him were dismissed. Lysias felt 
that he had already committed an outrage on a Roman 
citizen, for which he was answerable to the law, and 
he was naturally afraid. But though he treated Paul 
with greater respect, he could not set him at liberty. 
He was still ignorant of the nature of his offence ; 
moreover, to set him free would have been the greatest 
unkindness that could be shown to him, for it would 
have been to turn him out to the fury of a Jewish 
mob clamorous for his life. 

The chief captain was anxious to find out the nature 
of Paul's offence ; so, next day, he called a meeting of 
the Jewish Sanhedrin and chief priests, and set the 
prisoner before them. Thus was St. Paul brought a 
prisoner into the same judgment-hall, where he had 
heard Stephen defend himself so nobly many years 
before. What memories of the past must have crowded 
on the Apostle's mind as he stood in that sacred place 
and looked on the scene before him ! Among his 
judges were, probably, the two sons of his former 
teacher, and many others to whom Saul of Tarsus was 
no stranger in his youth. The Apostle had one ad- 
vantage, which Stephen did not possess. If he did not 
speak under the immediate protection of tne Roman 
guard, the chief captain had, at least, taken the pre- 

o 



290 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

caution to place him so that his enemies could not 
make a sudden attack upon him, and drag him forth, 
as they had done with Stephen, to the mad rage of the 
multitude. But though his life was safe, he was not free 
from insult. For no sooner did he begin to speak than 
the high priest commanded those that stood by him 
to smite him on the mouth. " Then said Paul unto 
him, ' God shall smite thee, thou whited wall : for 
sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest 
me to be smitten contrary to the law V And they that 
stood by him said, 6 Eevilest thou God's high priest ? ' 
Then said Paul, ' I wist not, brethren, that he was the 
high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak 
evil of the ruler of thy people/ "* Some think that the 
Apostle meant by these words to apologize for having 
spoken so hastily ; others that they were uttered in 
irony, because the Apostle refused to recognize a man 
like Ananias as high priest. The meaning of the words 
would altogether depend on the manner in which they 
were spoken, and as the record does not preserve that, 
we do not feel competent to decide. 

The high priest thus addressed met his death sub- 
sequently in a most awful way. He was murdered 
in an aqueduct in the gardens of the Prsetorium, 
when trying to conceal himself during the siege of 
Jerusalem. Some, therefore, have pretended to see in 
the Apostle's words a prophecy of the high priest's 
end. But there is no reason at all to suppose that 
Paul meant more than an indignant rebuke by the 
words he uttered. He was naturally quick-tempered, 
and the treatment he had received at the hands of the 
* Acts xxiii. 3-5. 



JERUSALEM. 291 

high priest roused his indignation : hence the rehuke 
he administered was more than usually severe. 

The Apostle, finding that it would be hopeless to 
expect a fair hearing from his present judges, and per- 
ceiving that there were many Sadducees as well as 
Pharisees present, threw an element of contention 
among them, and thus modified the hatred of one 
portion towards himself. " Men and brethren/' said 
he, "I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; of 
the hope of the resurrection of the dead I am called in 
question." He had no sooner uttered these words 
than a dissension arose among his judges. Amidst the 
great strife and excitement, some who belonged to the 
party of the Pharisees arose and said, — "We find 
no fault in this man, if, as he says, an angel or a 
spirit has indeed spoken to him."* The sentence was 
left incomplete or unheard, for all order in the court 
was now at an end. The chief captain fearing lest, even 
in spite of the precautions he had taken, the prisoner 
should be pulled to pieces between those who now 
sought to protect him, and those who wished, to de- 
stroy him, sent a company to bring him by force into 
the castle. So ended the Apostle's trial before the 
Jewish High Court. The same night Jesus appeared 
to Paul in a dream, saying, — a Be of good cheer, 
Paul, for as thou hast testified to me in Jerusalem, so 
must thou bear witness at Rome." 

The Apostle's life was so protected by his rights as 
a Roman citizen, that his enemies were not able to 
get any legal quibble, by means of which they could 

* The most reliable MSS. of the Acts omit the words "Let us not 
fight against God." 

o % 



292 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

take it away. But forty men, zealous for the law, 
bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink 
till they had killed Paul. These men were going to 
commit a most horrible crime, but they claimed for it 
the sanction of their religion ; seeking and obtaining 
the co-operation and approval of the chief priests and 
the elders. Their plans were skilfully laid. The 
chief priests were to request another hearing of the 
Apostle's case, as if they would inquire more perfectly 
into it ; and the forty conspirators were to lie in wait, 
to murder the prisoner on his way to the court. But 
by some means or other a knowledge of this plot came 
to the ears of Paul's nephew, who communicated the 
matter at once to his uncle. Paul, with characteristic 
prudence, said nothing about it to the Boman soldiers 
around him, but called one of them, and said, " Bring 
this young man unto the chief captain, for he hath a 
certain thing to tell him." The soldier did so ; and 
the young man told Lysias what he knew of the plot. 
The Boman treated him with kindness, heard his 
story, and then dismissed him, with the wise pre- 
caution, "Be careful to tell no man that thou bast 
showed these things unto me." The chief captain 
kept his own counsel regarding the line of action 
he meant to adopt. But with a soldier's promptitude 
all his measures were taken. That same night, under 
a powerful guard of Boman soldiers, the Apostle was 
conducted out of the city on his way to Caesarea, and 
bigotry, defeated in its attempts to take away the life 
of its victim by murder, was once more left to the old 
arts of falsehood and misrepresentation. 

The centurion who brought St. Paul to Csesarea, 



JERUSALEM. 293 

in delivering up his prisoner, presented the following 
letter from the chief captain of the garrison in Jeru- 
salem, to Felix, the Roman governor : — 

" Claudius Lysias, unto the most excellent governor 
Felix, sendeth greeting. This man was taken of the 
Jews, and would have been killed of them : then came 
I with an army and rescued him, having understood 
that he was a Roman. And when I would have 
known the cause wherefore they accused him, I 
brought him forth into their council : whom I per- 
ceived to be accused of questions of their law, but 
to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or 
of bonds. And when it was told me how the Jews 
laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and 
gave commandment to his accusers, also, to say before 
thee what they had against him. Farewell."* 

When Felix had read this letter, he turned to the 
prisoner, and asked of what province he was ; and 
when he understood that Paul was a native of Cilicia, 
he said, " I will hear thee when thy accusers also are 
come." 

In the meantime, he commanded that the prisoner 
should be kept in Herod's judgment-hall. 

* Acts xxiii. 26-30. 



" No more lie feels upon his high-raised arm 
The ponderous chain, than does the playful child 
The bracelet form'd of many a flowery link. 
Heedless of self, forgetful that his life 
Is now to be defended by his words, 
He only thinks of doing good to them 
That seek his life." 

Graham. 

" And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, 
for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they de- 
liver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak : for it 
shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is 
not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in 
you."— Matthew x. 18-20, 



CHAPTEK XXII. 

BEFORE GOVERNORS AND KINGS. 

Our readers will remember that it was at Caesarea, in 
the house of Philip the evangelist, that the Apostle 
received intimation of the danger which awaited him, 
if he carried out his intention of visiting Jerusalem 
at that time. St. Paul was not to be turned aside 
from the path of duty because of the difficulties and 
dangers by which it was beset. He was going to 
Jerusalem prepared to endure, not imprisonment only, 
but death itself, rather than prove false to the cause 
he had so long and so faithfully served. We have 
seen how that visit had terminated. A fortnight had 
not yet elapsed since Agabus uttered his prophecy, and 
now the Apostle was in Caesarea under the charge of 
Eoman soldiers, thus strikingly fulfilling the prophet's 
words. 

The city of Caesarea was built by Herod the Great, 
and named in honour of Augustus Caesar. It was not 
much older, therefore, than the Apostle himself; but 
it had grown rapidly, and was already a place of very 
great importance. " The city was provided with every- 
thing that could contribute to magnificence, amuse- 
ment, and health. But its great boast was its harbour, 



296 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

which provided for the ships which visited that dan- 
gerous coast a safe hasin of very considerable extent. 
Vast stones were sunk in the sea to the depth of 
twenty fathoms, and thus a stupendous breakwater 
was formed, curving round so as to afford complete 
protection from the south-westerly winds, and open 
only to the north,"* The buildings, both public and 
private, were all of marble; and the city, it is said, 
presented a most imposing appearance to anyone who 
was approaching it from the sea. 

But though a city of Palestine, and built by a 
Jewish prince, Csesarea possessed far more the cha- 
racter of a Greek or a Eoman than of a Jewish city. 
Here was the port by which Judaea was entered from 
the west. Here were the residence of the Koman 
procurators, or governors, and the head-quarters of 
the Imperial troops. In fact, everything closely con- 
nected with Cassarea bore the impress of Eome rather 
than of Palestine. The first object which caught the 
eye of those who were sailing into the harbour, was 
the temple of Sebasteum. It was built on a lofty rock 
in front of the town, and dedicated to Caesar and to 
Eome. The harbour itself was called the Augustan 
harbour, and the proper name of the city was Augustan 
Caesarea. Such was the city to which St. Paul was 
brought for safety, till his case was more fully in- 
quired into. Some have thought that the guard sent 
with the Apostle was much larger than was necessary, 
and have been inclined to question St. Luke's accuracy 
in this matter. But when we remember how great the 
excitement had been, and the nature of the conspiracy 
* Conybeare and Howson. 



BEFORE GOVERNORS AND KINGS. 297 

which the Jews had entered into to take away the 
Apostle's life, we are not likely to question either 
Luke's accuracy, or the discretion of the Soman 
soldiers. Those who had any experience among the 
Jews must have known that there was no subject for 
which they were more likely to be led on to do a 
daring deed, than their religion. 

Eeaders of the Acts of the Apostles will not be 
likely to form a very high opinion of Antonius Felix, 
the Roman procurator or governor, before whom St, 
Paul had now to appear and confront his Jewish 
persecutors. St. Luke's description, however, is fully 
supported by the accounts of Josephus and Tacitus. 
The Eoman historian says of him, " that in the 
practice of all kinds of lust and cruelty, he exercised 
the power of a king with the temper of a slave." He 
had already been five years in his office of procurator, 
when Paul was sent to Csesarea. He had been guilty 
of great cruelty and injustice, but his rule had not 
been altogether evil, for he had done much to free the 
country from the hordes of robbers by which it had 
been infested, thus making life and property more 
secure. This is nearly all that can be said in his 
praise as a governor. And we shall see presently how 
the Eoman advocate brought down by the Jews to 
plead against Paul, began his speech by compliment- 
ing Felix on the successful accomplishment of this his 
only praiseworthy act. 

The Apostle's accusers were not long in following 
him. The law required that causes should be heard 
speedily, and the Jews who were prosecuting were not 
wanting in zeal. In five days, therefore, after St. 

o 3 



298 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

Paul had been handed over to the charge of Felix, 
Ananias, the high priest, with the elders, went down 
to Csesarea, taking with them a Roman lawyer named 
Tertullus. He was one of those lawyers who practised 
in the courts of the provinces, where the forms of the 
Eoman law and the Latin language were not very 
well understood. From his name, we should infer 
that he was an Italian, and the probability is great 
that on this occasion, at least, he spoke in the Latin 
tongue. The charges against the Apostle being formally 
laid before the governor, who was seated on his tribunal, 
and the prisoner being summoned to meet his accusers, 
Tertullus opened the case for the prosecution with great 
skill. Addressing the governor he went on to say, — 
" Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that 
very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy pro- 
vidence, we accept it always and in all places, most 
noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Notwithstanding, 
that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee, 
that thou wouldst hear us of thy clemency a few 
words. For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, 
and a mover of sedition among the Jews throughout 
all the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the 
Nazarenes ; T who also hath gone about to profane the 
temple : whom we took and would have judged ac- 
cording to our law. But the chief captain Lysias came 
upon us, and with great violence took him away out 
of our hands, commanding his accusers to come unto 
thee : by examining of whom thyself mayest take 
knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse 
him."* 

* Acts xxiv. 2-8. 



BEFORE GOVERNORS AND KINGS. 299 

This is probably only a brief outline of the address. 
It shows all the dexterity of a practised pleader; 
and, from the skilful blending of truth and falsehood 
in it, apparent only to those who knew the facts of the 
case, it must have been well fitted for the purpose it 
was designed to serve. It contains three distinct 
charges against the Apostle: — 1st. That he was a 
mover of the Jews to sedition : this was an offence 
against the Roman law. 2nd. He had set aside the 
traditions of Moses, and become a ringleader of 
the Nazarenes : this was a charge of heresy with 
which, strictly speaking, a Roman court had nothing 
to do. 3rd. He had been guilty of profaning the 
temple : this was an offence against both the Jewish and 
the Roman law, because the Emperor was bound to 
protect the Jews in the exercise of their worship. The 
concluding portion of the speech contained a gross 
misrepresentation of the circumstances amidst which 
Lysias had rescued Paul from the Jews; the speaker's 
object being, apparently, to induce Felix to give up 
his prisoner into the hands of the Jews, that they 
might judge him by their own law. Had the governor 
consented to this, there can be little doubt as to 
what the result would have been. But Paul was a 
Roman citizen, and the letter of Claudius Lysias to 
Felix had represented the matter in a different light: 
indeed, the very fact that the chief captain had inter- 
fered at all would be enough to make Felix pause 
before he complied with the evident wish of the 
Apostle's accusers. 

When the Roman pleader had ended, the Jews pre- 
sented themselves, and bore willing testimony to all 



300 SCENES FROM THE LIEE 0? ST. PAUL. 

he had said. Then Paul, having received an intima- 
tion from the governor that it was now his turn to be 
heard, rose and said : — 

" Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been for 
many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more 
cheerfully answer for myself: because that thou mayest 
understand that there are yet but twelve days since I 
went up to Jerusalem to worship. And they neither 
found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither 
raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor 
in the city ; neither can they prove the things whereof 
they now accuse me. But this I confess unto thee, 
that after the way which they call heresy, so worship 
I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are 
written in the law and the prophets : and have hope 
towards God, which they themselves also allow, that 
there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the 
just and the unjust. And herein do I exercise myself, 
to have always a conscience void of offence towards God 
and towards men. Now after many years I came to bring 
alms to my nation and offerings. Whereupon certain 
Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither 
with multitude nor with tumult ; who ought to have 
been here before thee, and object, if they have aught 
against me. Or else let these same here say if they 
have found any evil doing in me while I stood before 
the council, except it be for this one voice, that I cried 
standing among them, e Touching the resurrection of 
the dead I am called in question by you this day.'" * 

The speech of Paul evidently made some impression 
on the mind of Felix. There may have been some- 
* Acts xxiv. 10-21. 



BEFORE GOVERNORS AND KINGS. 301 

tiling in the Apostle's manner which arrested his 
attention and made him listen, even while he feared to 
do so. Wicked men have sometimes a singular power 
of detecting the presence of a loftier purity than they 
find in the mass of men, when some apparently com- 
monplace incident brings them face to face with it. 
So long as the conscience retains any power the evil 
man stands in awe of the good man. Thus we read 
in the Gospels that Herod feared John the Baptist, be- 
cause John was a just and a holy man. So Felix 
appears to have been struck with a vague feeling of 
awe towards the Apostle : for, when Drusilla his wife 
came to Csesarea, he sent for Paul, and heard him con- 
cerning the faith in Christ. This may have been done 
only to gratify his wife's curiosity, who, as a Jewess 
and the daughter of Herod Agrippa — the same who put 
James, the brother of John, to death — had probably 
heard something of the Apostle and his cause. Dru- 
silla was young and beautiful ; and Felix had seduced 
her from her first husband, who was still alive. Thus 
Paul had an opportunity, in prison, of preaching the 
Gospel before the man in whose hands, humanly 
speaking, his life was held. But he was not a preacher 
likely to say smooth things merely to gain a temporary 
end, or cry peace, peace, when there was no peace. 
He, too, with the Hebrew prophet, felt that there could 
be no peace to the wicked : so he spoke boldly to the 
Roman libertine and the profligate Jewish princess of 
i( righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come." 
Felix heard and trembled. What of soul his lawless life 
had left within him was for the moment roused ; but 
the excitement soon passed away. " Go thy way/' 



302 SCENES EROM THE LIEE OF ST. PAUL. 

said he to the Apostle, " and when I have a convenient 
season I will call for thee." So, too, when the trial 
was ended, Felix must have felt that the Apostle's 
statement not only harmonized with the letter he had 
received with him, but bore every other appearance of 
truthfulness. Yet he did not dismiss the case. Under 
pretence of waiting till Claudius Lysias should come 
down, he sent Paul back to his prison ; but with ex- 
press orders that he should be treated kindly, and his 
friends and acquaintance permitted to see him. The 
real cause why Paul was thus detained was, that Felix 
hoped to get a bribe in order to release him. The 
corrupt governor had heard of the Apostle bringing 
alms to Jerusalem ; and the ceremony in which Paul 
took part, and was at " charges," was a costly one. 
Felix may have supposed, then, that either the Apostle 
or his friends would have given him money to set Paul 
free. So he sent for him the oftener and conversed 
with him ; but the Apostle was too noble to seek his 
liberty by means so dishonourable. The result was, 
that he was kept a prisoner at Csesarea for two years. 
How the Apostle occupied himself during those two 
years we cannot tell ; but we can well believe that he 
was not idle. His friends had access to him, and by 
Timothy and Luke he may have sent messages, or even 
letters, to his converts in distant places. It has been 
supposed by some that Luke wrote his Gospel at this 
time with the aid and the advice of Paul, but all these 
are mere conjectures ; the two years' imprisonment 
alone is certain. 

When Felix was recalled, another chance was given 
him of doing justice to the Apostle, but selfishness still 



BEFORE GOVERNORS AND KINGS. 303 

was the only inspiration by which he was guided. He 
had made himself hateful to the Jews, and now he was 
summoned by the Emperor to answer for his cruelty. 
To have liberated Paul might have still further ex- 
asperated the Jews. There was no need to do that, he 
thought, so he left Paul bound. 

With the change of governors, the hopes of the 
Jewish bigots revived. They had tried in vain to get 
the Apostle out of the hands of Felix ; they might, 
however, succeed with his successor. A new governor 
was naturally anxious to please the popular party, but 
Festus was a man of quite a different stamp from 
Felix. Shortly after he came to Csesarea, it would 
appear, that, either as a mark of respect to the Jews, 
or for some purpose connected with his office, he had 
to go to Jerusalem. While he was there, the Jews de- 
sired, as a special favour, that he would send for Paul 
to Jerusalem, in order that he might be tried by their 
law, intending, as St. Luke tells us, to lie in wait for 
him by the way, that they might kill him. But 
Festus answered that Paul should remain at Caesarea, 
whither he himself should be going in a few days. 
" Let those among you," said he, " who are able, go 
down with me, and accuse this man if there be any 
wickedness in him/' 

In a few days afterwards, the Apostle had to appear 
in the judgment-hall of Caesarea before the new 
governor and a deputation of his Jewish accusers. 
Festus heard the charges brought against Paul, 
and Paul's answer to them, but he was a Roman, 
and could make little of them. He saw that they 
related to questions of Jewish law only. The Jews 



304 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

Were anxious to get the Apostle to Jerusalem, and 
Festus, dreading no plot to defeat the ends of justice, 
was willing to do the Jews a favour; hence he naturally- 
asked the Apostle, "Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, 
and there be judged of these things before me ?" The 
Apostle saw the danger into which this request brought 
him. To return to Jerusalem, even though Festus 
himself should go and sit in judgment on him, could 
only lead to one result. Paul had one resource left, 
it was a bold one, but he resolved to avail him- 
self of it. He would claim his privilege as a Roman 
citizen, and appeal to Caesar. He speaks out, there- 
fore, with a clear, firm voice in answer to the question 
of Festus, as to whether he would go to Jerusalem 
and be judged. "I stand at Caesars judgment- 
seat, where I ought to be judged ; to the Jews I 
have done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. 
For if I be an offender, or have committed anything 
worthy of death, I refuse not to die ; but if there be 
none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man 
may deliver me unto them; I appeal unto Caesar." 
There is the ring of true manliness in these words. 
They change in a moment the whole aspect of the 
case ; it was no longer a petty quarrel about temple 
rites and ceremonies ; for here was a Roman citizen 
exercising his highest privilege, that of appeal to the 
Emperor. Festus was probably astonished at the new 
turn which things had taken ; he conferred with the 
council sfs to whether the plea was a sound one. 
Finding that it was, he declared it at once as the deci- 
sion of the court, " Hast thou appealed unto Caesar ? 
Unto Caesar shalt thou go." Thus, with evident 



BEFORE GOVERNORS AND KTNGS. 305 

satisfaction, he shook his hands free of the whole 
matter. 

The Apostle's journey to Rome was now only a 
question of time, but before matters were arranged for 
his departure, King Agrippa and Bernice, his sister, 
came to Caesarea to congratulate Festus on his ac- 
cession to the government of Judaea. They were the 
children of Herod Agrippa, and brother and sister to 
Drusilla, the wife of the late governor Felix. After 
they had been in Caesarea some days, Festus mentioned 
Paul's case to them, and they at once expressed a de- 
sire to see and hear the Apostle, and Festus resolved 
to gratify it. 

The next day, therefore, the Apostle was brought into 
court once more. The scene must have been an imposing 
one : for Festus, wishing to do honour to his guests, 
had seated them in great pomp. When all were as- 
sembled, Festus explained, as well as he could, Paul's 
case, confessing that he really did not know what 
charge to send with him unto Caesar, and concluding 
thus : " Wherefore I have brought him forth before 
yon, and specially before thee, King Agrippa, that, 
after examination had, I might have somewhat to 
write. For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a 
prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid 
against him. ,, 

King Agrippa, thus addressed, turned to Paul, and 
intimated that he was now permitted to speak for 
himself. The Apostle, chained to the arm of a Roman 
soldier, stretched forth the arm that was free, and 
began his address. Our readers will find St. Luke's 
outline of the address in the xxvi. chapter of the Acts : 



306 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

we need not print it here, because it only contains in a 
new form matter that we have already given. It gives 
a brief, but striking sketch of the Apostle's career as a 
persecutor of the new faith ; an account of his journey 
to Damascus and conversion ; his call to preach the 
Gospel, and its results. Then the speaker goes on to 
speak of Christ and the resurrection from the dead. 
But as the Apostle thus spoke, with all the earnest- 
ness of deep conviction, and felt himself, as it were, 
borne up by the inspiration of his sublime faith, 
Festus interrupted him with the exclamation, " Paul, 
thou art beside thyself: much learning doth make thee 
mad ! " The Apostle turned to the Eoman governor, 
and by his whole manner gave an ample refutation to 
his suspicion. " I am not mad, most noble Festus," 
said he, " but speak forth the words of truth and 
soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, 
before whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded 
that none of these things are hidden from him, for 
this was not done in a corner/' Then, addressing the 
king, the Apostle put the question, " King Agrippa, 
believest thou the prophets? I know that thou 
believest." The king replied, "Almost thou per- 
suadest me to be a Christian/' Some critics think 
that this reply was one of simple politeness, out of 
compliment to Paul's eloquence ; others think that the 
words were uttered in irony; while many think that 
the king spoke in perfect sincerity. We cannot 
pretend to say which is the most reasonable inter- 
pretation of the king's answer. We incline, however, 
to the opinion that he was sincere. To the calm, 
cool Koman, the Apostle's enthusiasm seemed the 



BEFORE GOVERNORS AND KINGS. 307 

derangement of a great mind; but Agrippa was a 
Jew, and, therefore, no stranger to the questions Paul 
brought before him. Moreover, the Apostle had 
specially addressed Agrippa, and, with his character- 
istic prudence, would naturally place the whole subject 
in the light best fitted to win the sympathies of the 
king; for these reasons we incline to the opinion that 
Agrippa's reply was uttered in perfect sincerity. But 
it was the sincerity only of passing excitement, not of 
deep conviction . The Apostle evidently accepted the 
kings answer as sincere, for, holding up his fettered 
hand, he exclaimed, " I would to God that not only 
thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both 
almost, and altogether such as I am, except these 
bonds/' What a scene this must have been ! There 
sat Agrippa and his sister, in all the pomp of regal 
splendour. There was Festus, the Roman governor, 
in a position scarcely less inferior to them. There 
were Roman officers and soldiers, and probably some 
of the principal citizens of Ca3sarea, who, if they did 
not come out of curiosity to hear Paul, might do so 
out of respect for Agrippa. And there was the 
Apostle in bonds for a despised and down-trodden 
faith, yet feeling and avowing himself the possessor of 
that which would exalt even king Agrippa. If we 
could forget the history of the last eighteen hundred 
years, and sit in that council-chamber as one of the 
citizens of Csesarea may have sat that day, what 
impression should we be likely to receive from the 
scene which St. Luke has so faithfully sketched for 
us ? One, I fear, not much more favourable than 
Festus did. The pomp of King Agrippa was tangible. 



308 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OP ST. PAUL. 

The power of Festus was a recognized fact, but the 
faith which upheld the Apostle was an unseen, spiritual 
influence, which even wise men might be excused for 
not seeing in that age. Yet the pomp of Agrippa soon 
passed away, leaving no lasting record in the world; 
and the Roman power itself has now become but 
a name, while the words of Paul are scattered far 
and wide, and the memory of his noble life is treasured 
as one of the world's priceless lessons. 

After Paul had spoken, the court broke up. St. Luke 
says, " The King rose up," as if the impulse came from 
him. And as the governor and his friends went aside 
to talk the matter over, they were universal in their 
opinion that Paul had done nothing worthy of death or 
of bonds. " Then Agrippa said unto Festus, c This 
man might have been set at liberty, if he had not 
appealed unto Caesar/ " 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE SHIPWEECK. 



" Thou, solemn ocean, rollest to the strand, 
Laden with prayers from many a far-off land : 
To us thy thousand murmurs at our feet 
One cry repeat. 

Through all thy myriad tones that never cease, 
We hear of death and love, the cross and peace, 

New churches bright with hope and glad with psalms, 
And martyrs' palms. 

Then on ! and come whate'er our God sees fit ! 
To yon frail wave -toss' d planks we now commit, 
Our lives, our all, and leave our native land 
At his command. 

We take thee for our chariot, stormy sea ! 
Borne safely on to serve our Gfod by thee, 
For thou and we alike obey his word, 
And own him Lord. 

And whether thy chill deeps become our grave, 
Or far away our blood shall stain thy wave, 
Or we shall cross with joyous songs thy foam 
Back to our home : 

Be it as he ordains whose name is Love ! 
Whether our lot or life or death shall prove, 
To life eternal surely guides his will, 
And we are still." 

Lyra Germanica. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE SHIPWRECK. 

We are now come to an important era in the Apostle s 
life, namely, his voyage to Eome. Fortunately, St, 
Luke was with him, and he has left a most admirable 
description of that voyage. To understand it, however, 
and all the particulars of the shipwreck, it will be 
necessary to bear in mind that St. Paul was no stranger 
to the sea and its perils. He had encountered ship- 
wreck before, for though no mention of it is made in 
the Acts, we learn from the Epistle to the Corinthians 
that he had not only been in perils by sea, but a whole 
night and a day in the deep, by which is meant pro- 
bably, that he was a night and a day clinging to some 
spars or fragments of a wreck. St. Luke too, as we 
have already noticed, had probably been a physician 
on board a ship ; at all events, he was well acquainted 
with all the parts of a ship, and must have had con- 
siderable knowledge of the science of navigation as 
taught in those times. But, as all his descriptions 
bear witness, his knowledge was that of a landsman 
rather than a sailor. We know nothing of this voyage 
save from Luke's account, but it is gratifying to learn, 
that a man eminently well qualified to go into the 



312 SCENES EROM THE LIEE OF ST. PAUL. 

matter has examined n detail all the statements in 
the Acts of the Apostles relating to it, and verified 
them in a way so remarkable, as to leave no room for 
doubt that we have a most faithful description of a 
real voyage, written by one who was not only a careful 
observer of what was going on around him, but a man 
possessing all the requisite knowledge for writing such 
a history. We are safe, therefore, in following St. 
Luke's narrative ; but if any of our readers should 
feel inclined to pursue the subject further, they cannot 
do better than read Mr. Smith's deeply-interesting 
volume.* 

In the preceding chapter we saw that the Apostle, 
despairing of getting justice done to him in Caesarea, 
and fearing lest he should be sent back to Jerusalem, 
where the malice of the Jews would soon find some 
means of taking away his life, had appealed unto 
Caesar. In consequence of this appeal, it was deter- 
mined by Festus that Paul should be sent, with 
other prisoners, by sea to Italy. Accordingly, he was 
placed with the other prisoners, under the charge of 
Julius, a centurion of the Imperial band. " And enter- 
ing into a ship of Adramyttium," says St. Luke, "we 
launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia/' 
There appears to have been no vessel in the port of 
Cresarea at that time bound for Italy, capable of ac- 
commodating the party of Julius. They embarked, 
therefore, in a coasting vessel bound for Adramyttium, 
a place in the north-west of Asia, near to Troas. This 
was the direction in which a ship would sail, making 

* The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul. By James SmitH, Esq., 
of Jordanhill. London : Longman and Co. 



THE SHIPWRECK. 313 

ft voyage from Palestine to Italy. They would, therefore, 
be so far on their way when they reached the coast of 
Asia ; and in some of the great commercial marts on 
that coast they could not fail to find a ship bound for 
Italy. The Apostle's companions were Luke, and 
Arist archus, a native of Thessalonica. What had be- 
come of Timothy we cannot tell. The probability is, 
that he had been sent by the Apostle on some message 
to one or more of the many churches he had planted. 

The next day after they bad sailed from Csesarea, the 
vessel put into Sidon. The distance between the two 
ports is 6? geographical miles; hence we may infer, 
that the wind was favourable so far. Here, a little 
touch of kindness on the part of the centurion who 
had charge of Paul must not be passed over. St. 
Luke tells us that "Julius courteously entreated Paul, 
and gave him liberty to go unto his friends and refresh 
himself." The probability is, that the centurion had 
been requested to treat Paul with humanity, but this 
was an indulgence which can only be accounted for 
by supposing that already a strong feeling of respect 
for Paul was growing in the mind of the Roman 
soldier. The Apostle, we know, was never in robust 
health, and his two years' imprisonment in Csesarea 
can hardly have been beneficial to him; hence the 
opportunity of visiting his friends in Sidon must have 
been a great boon. This was the last time, so far as 
we know, that St. Paul visited any of the towns in 
Syria. 

When the Apostle was going to Jerusalem with 
the collection he had made among the Gentile churches 
for the poorer brethren in Judsea^, he said farewell to 

p 



314 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

the Ephesian elders on the shore at Miletus, and then 
embarked and sailed to Patara, where he found a ship 
about to depart for Phoenicia. " We went on board/' 
says St. Luke, " and set forth, and when we had dis- 
covered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand/' Now, if 
the reader will look at the map, he will see that they 
must have left the coast of Asia Minor, and taken to 
the open sea. This would have been the right course 
for them to take when they loosed from Si don. They 
should have kept Cyprus to the right, and come by a 
straight course almost to Myra, whither they were 
bound, but the winds were contrary, forcing them to 
the north. They sailed between Cyprus and the 
coast of Asia Minor, through the sea of Cilicia and 
Pamphylia, and came to Myra. Thus the Apostle 
was brought once more very near to his early home, 
and may have seen the heights of Taurus looming 
in the distance; awakening many tender recollections 
in his mind. Once more, too, he sailed through the 
same w 7 aters which he and Barnabas had traversed on 
their first missionary journey. Myra was a town in the 
south of the province of Lycia. It was a place of 
considerable importance in those days, though now 
an utter ruin. Here the centurion and his party left 
the coasting-vessel which had brought them in safety 
so far, and finding a ship of Alexandria sailing to 
Italy, they embarked on board of her. Egypt was 
the great storehouse from which Italy, and particu- 
larly Eome, was supplied with corn. An important 
branch of commerce in those days was the carrying of 
grain from Egypt to Italy. In this traffic, ships were 
employed of great size, and the Apostle embarked at 



THE SHIPWRECK. 315 

Myra in one of those vessels. Myra lay so far out of 
the direct track from Alexandria to Italy that some 
commentators have supposed that, by a ship of Alex- 
andria, Luke must have meant merely to describe the 
build of the vessel. But Mr. Smith has shown that, 
as ancient ships were navigated, the Alexandrian ship 
was not so far out of her course at Myra, even though 
she had no occasion to touch there for the purposes of 
trade. But supposing she were out of her course, the 
same westerly wind which had made the Adramyttium 
ship sail under the lee' of Cyprus, would account for 
this Alexandrian ship being at Myra. Leaving Myra, 
they sailed slowly, and, with much difficulty, after many 
days, made Cnidus. As the distance was only 130 
miles, they must have met with either calms or con- 
trary winds. That it was the latter, there can be little 
doubt, from St. Luke's mode of statement. " We 
reached Cnidus with difficulty, the wind not suffering 
us." At this point, they lost the advantages of a 
favouring current, a weather shore, and smooth water, 
and were met by all the force of the sea from the 
westward. It was apparently, therefore, judged more 
prudent not to contend against a head-sea and con- 
trarv winds, but to run down to the southward, and, 
after rounding Cape Salmone, to pursue the voyage 
under the lee of Crete.* "After passing Cape 
Salmone, which is the eastern extremity of Crete, the 
difficulty they had found in sailing along the coast of 
Asia would recur; but as the south of Crete is also 
a weather shore, with north-west winds, they would be 
able to work up as far as Cape Matala. Here the 
* Convbeare and Howson. 

p 2 



316 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

land trends suddenly to tlie north, and the advantages 
of a weather shore cease, and their only resource was 
to make for a harbour. Now, Fair Havens is the last 
harbour before arriving at Cape Matala, the farthest 
point to which an ancient ship could have attained 
with north-westerly winds."* Accordingly, St. Luke 
tells us, that they u came unto a place which is called 
the Fair Havens : nigh whereunto was the city of 
Lasea." 

Here they were detained till the season was so far 
advanced that sailing becameHangerous. The Jewish 
fast by which Luke indicates the time of the year, 
occurred about the end of September. It was now 
probably October, and all hope of reaching Italy that 
season was at an end. A consultation was held as to 
whether they should winter in Fair Havens, or make 
an attempt to reach a less-exposed harbour. The 
Apostle was admitted to this consultation, and gave 
it as his decided opinion, that they should remain 
where they were. But Phenice, a much safer and 
more-commodious harbour, was only about 40 miles 
farther to the westward on the same coast. The 
officers of the ship gave it as their opinion, that an 
attempt should be made to reach Phenice, and the 
centurion naturally deferred to them. What took 
place justified the Apostle's advice. "At the same 
time," as Mr. Smith observes, " a bay open to nearly 
one-half of the compass could not have been a good 
place to winter in." 

Accordingly, tempted by a favourable wind, they 
weighed anchor, and sailed from the Fair Plavens^ 

* Smith's Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul. 



THE SHIPWRECK. 317 

which had proved, at least, a temporary refuge to 
them. They kept close to the shore till they passed 
Cape Matala, where the land takes a sudden turn 
towards the north. They had not proceeded far, 
however, before there arose against them a tempes- 
tuous wind called Euroclydon. Literally, a typhonic 
squall, having something of the character of a whirl- 
wind, came down upon them. Luke does not mention 
it, but from subsequent details it seems certain that 
the sudden fury of the wind damaged the ship. At 
all events, it drove them out of their course, and pre- 
vented them from making the place where they had 
proposed to winter. The ship, driven at the mercy 
of the wind, reached the island of Claudia, a distance 
of between 20 and 30 miles from the place where the 
storm probably came upon them. Here, in the lee of 
this island, they had smoother water for a time, and 
they availed themselves of it to secure the boat, for 
the storm had come upon them so suddenly that they 
w T ere not prepared for it, but had, in all probability, 
fair-weather sails set, and the boat towing astern. St. 
Luke tells us that the work of taking up the boat was 
attended with much difficulty, but dotes not say how. 
We can easily imagine, however, that, independently 
of the storm, which was still raging, they would have 
"much work to come by the boat/' which had been 
towing astern some 20 or 30 miles after the gale 
sprung up, and could hardly fail to be full of water. 
Having accomplished this, the next thing was to 
undergird the ship with ropes passed round her frame 
and firmly secured on deck. This was a means of 
safetv more common in such circumstances in ancient 



318 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

than in modern ships, partly because modern ships 
are stronger in their build, and differently rigged. 
Then, (; fearing lest they should be driven into the 
Syrtis, they lowered the gear." In our New Testa- 
ments we read that, i( Fearing lest they should fall 
into the quicksands, they strake sail and so were 
driven. " This is an unfortunate translation, because, 
as Mr. Smith has observed, " It is equivalent to say- 
ing that, fearing a certain danger, they deprived them- 
selves of the only possible means of avoiding it." 
St. Luke's meaning was evidently quite the opposite, 
for, whatever was implied by "lowering the gear," it 
is clear, from the context, that they were doing all 
they could to prevent the ship from drifting on the 
African coast, where the dreaded Syrtis, or quicksands, 
lay. The storm still continued, and the next day, 
" being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, we light- 
ened the ship." This was probably rendered neces- 
sary because the ship was leaking. All hands w r ere 
evidently at work, passengers and prisoners, as well as 
sailors ; yet their situation was getting more and 
more hopeless. The pumps were all going, yet appa- 
rently the water was gaining on them, despite the 
exertions of the men; so, the next day, says St. Luke, 
"■ we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the 
ship." 

A dreary interval of many days followed, during 
which the storm continued, and neither sun nor stars 
were visible; all hope of being saved was taken away. 
We can imagine but faintly, who are strangers to such 
an experience, what all on board must have suffered 
during those days. The strain on mind and body 



THE SHIPWRECK. OH) 

must have been very great, and to this was added the 
want of regular food; for the provisions were probably 
injured by the water, and all hands being needed for 
the work, it was impossible to prepare a regular meal. 
But after long abstinence, and when all around him 
were sinking through weariuess and despair, Paul 
stood forth to speak words of hope and comfort. He 
has had another of those remarkable visions which 
had so often thrown a gleani of heavenlv light across 
his path. He gathers the sailors around him on the 
deck of the sinking ship, and addresses them thus, — 
" Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not 
have loosed from Crete ; thus would you have been 
spared this harm and loss. And now I exhort you 
to be of good cheer; for there shall be no loss of 
any man's life among you, but of the ship. For 
there stood by me this night an angel of God, whose 
I am and whom I serve, saying, 'Fear not, Paul; 
thou must stand before Caesar: and, lo ! God hath 
given thee all who sail with thee.' Wherefore, sirs, 
be of good cheer ; for I believe God, that what hath 
been declared unto me shall come to pass. Never- 
theless we must be cast upon a certain island." * 

How this address was received we cannot tell, but it 
could hardly fail to make a deep impression even on 
the minds of heathen sailors. The sight of one man 
who had risen, at the very moment when danger seemed 
most imminent, above despair, must have exercised a 
strong moral influence on the minds of all who were 
on board that fated ship. At length, on the night of 

* Acts xxvii. 21-25. 



320 SCENES FROM TilE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

the fourteenth day the sailors began to suspect that land 
was near. There can be little doubt as to what these 
signs of land were. They must have seen or heard 
the breakers on a rocky coast. They immediately 
took soundings, and, their suspicions being confirmed, 
they began to fear lest they should be dashed to pieces 
on the rocks. In this emergency they cast four anchors 
out of the stern of the ship, and anxiously waited for 
the day. But the sailors, fully aware of the sinking 
condition of the ship, could not wait for the daylight. 
Under pretence of casting an anchor out of the fore- 
ship, they were lowering the boat, but Paul penetrated 
their real jmrpose, and, seeing that the safety of all 
might depend on the sailors, who alone were able to 
work the ship, he communicated his fears at once to 
the centurion; pointing out, at the same time, the con- 
sequences if the sailors succeeded in getting away. 
The centurion, at once, with the promptitude of a 
Roman soldier, commanded his men to cut the ropes, 
and the boat drifted off to leeward and was lost in the 
darkness. Thus, a danger, greater even than the 
storm, was avoided by the wisdom of St. Paul, who r 
as the danger and difficulty increase, rises into his true 
position as a leader of men. 

As the long-looked-for day began to dawn, we find 
the Apostle using his influence to induce all on board 
to take some food that they might be strengthened* 
and invigorated for the danger which was still before 
them. u 'This is the 'fourteenth day/ said he, 'that 
ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taker* 
nothing ; wherefore, I pray you to take some food, for 
it is for your health ; for there shall not a hair fall 



THE SHIPWRECK. 321 

from the head of any of you/ And when he had 
thus spoken, he took bread and gave thanks to God in 
presence of them all ; and when he had broken it he 
began to eat. Then were they all of good cheer; and 
they also took some food." What a picture these words 
call up in the mind ! As we read them, the whole 
scene rises in imagination before us. We hear the 
raging sea, and the fretful moan of the waves as they 
break on the rocky shore ; and through the dim light 
of the dawning day w T e can discern the haggard faces 
of the men clustered on the deck, or clinging to the 
bulwarks of the sinking vessel. But over all rises the 
calm presence of the heroic Apostle ; he sees that all 
needful preparations for the coming day are made, and 
then cheers the drooping spirit of all on board with 
brave, hopeful words. Not the captain, nor the centu- 
rion, nor the ship^s crew, is now regarded as the source 
of wisdom and safety, but the prisoner Paul. And so 
naturally was the true greatness of the Apostle called 
forth by the circumstances in which he was placed, 
that, but for the storm which wrecked the ship and 
imperilled the lives on board, few could have dreamed 
that so much mental and moral power could have 
slumbered in that thin, wasted form, on which the toils 
and the hardships of many years had left their inde- 
lible record. We feel sure that no one can read St. 
Luke's striking narrative of this shipwreck and fail to 
perceive that, under the providence of God, the 276 
persons who were on board that ship which w r as dashed 
to pieces by the waves in St, Paul's Bay, owed their 
safety to the wisdom, skill, and courage displayed by 
the prisoner Paul. Thus, to a warm, loving heart 

p 3 



322 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

the Apostle united a clear head, full of practical 
wisdom. 

Thus encouraged by the Apostle, they partook of 
food, and, instead of abandoning themselves to despair, 
proceeded to adopt the last means of saving the sink- 
ing ship, that of throwing overboard the cargo, which, 
being wheat, had probably shifted its place, and helped 
•to make the ship more unmanageable. By the time 
this was effected the day had daw r ned, and the sailors 
were able to see more distinctly the nature of the 
coast to whicl they had drifted, and perceiving an 
opening between two rocks, they determined to run the 
ship in there. In doing this, however, both great care 
and able seamanship were required, and the service 
Paul had rendered by preventing the escape of the 
sailors would be felt by the centurion, even more 
than when he had commanded the soldiers to cut the 
ropes and let the boat go adrift. They did not suc- 
ceed in running the ship into the creek, for her fore- 
part stuck fast in a bank of mud, and her hinder part 
w r as broken with the violence of the waves. There w r as 
nothing for them, therefore, but either to swim ashore 
or make some kind of raft to carry them there. Bat as 
he was thus about to escape from the sea, a new clanger 
awaited the Apostle. The soldiers were answerable 
with their lives for the detention of their prisoners, and, 
fearing lest some of them should swim ashore and so 
escape, they would have killed them, but the centurion, 
filled with love and admiration for Paul, kept them 
from their purpose. Then the command was given 
that all who could swim should cast themselves into 
the sea and get to land. The rest, some on boards 



THE SHIPWRECK. 323 

and some on broken pieces of the ship, managed to 
reach the shore ; " and so it came to pass that they 
all escaped to land." 

The island on which they were thrown w T as Melita, 
or Malta, now in the possession of Great Britain. 
This has been doubted by some, who have tried to 
identify Meleda in the Adriatic with the Melita of the 
Acts, but all doubt on this head has been set at rest 
by the researches of Mr. Smith. St. Luke tells us 
that w 7 hen they got to shore the barbarous people 
showed them no little kindness. We must not ima- 
gine, however, that the island was peopled with 
savages. By the term barbarians is probably meant 
nothing more than that the inhabitants did not speak 
either the Greek or the Latin tongue. A fire was 
kindled ; " and w T hen Paul had gathered a bundle of 
sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper 
out of the heat, and fastened on his hand." When 
the inhabitants of the island saw the viper on the 
Apostle's hand, they said among themselves, " No 
doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath 
escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live." 
But when Paul shook the animal into the fire, and 
felt no harm, their thoughts took another turn; they 
said among themselves, " He is a god." This reminds 
us of what took place at Lystra, in Iconium. In the 
part of the island to which they escaped from the 
wreck, Publius, the chief man of the island, had pro- 
perty. Seeing the wretched condition in which they 
were, he invited them to his house, and entertained 
them as his guests for three days. St. Luke then tells 
us that the father of Publius lay sick of fever and 



324 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

dysentery ; " to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and 
laid his hands on him, and healed him. So when this 
was done, others, also, who had diseases in the island, 
came, and were healed ; who also honoured us with 
many honours; and when we departed, they loaded 
us with such things as were necessary/' This, it 
should he remembered, is the testimony of an eye- 
witness, and one who was peculiarly well qualified to 
describe what he saw. 

After staying three months on Melita, they sailed in 
another ship of Alexandria, bound for Italy, ""which 
had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor 
and Pollux. And landing at Syracuse, we tarried 
there three days. And from thence we sailed eir- 
euitouslv, and came to Rhegium : and after one day the 
south wind blew, and we came the next to Puteoli ; '* 
thus accomplishing a distance of nearly 180 nautical 
miles in less than two days, proving that the wind 
must have been in their Favour. The town of Puteoli 
to which they thus came, was situated in the northern 
part of the Bay of "Naples. " The angry neighbour 
of Naples — Mount Vesuvius — was not then an un- 
sleeping volcano, but a green and sunny background 
to the bay, with its westward slope covered with vines. 
No one could have suspected that the time was 
so near when the admiral of the fleet at Misenum 
would be lost in its fiery eruption, and little did the 
Apostle dream, when he looked from the vessel's 
deck across the bay to the right, that a ruin like 
that of Sodoui and Gomorrah hung over the fair 
cities at the base of the mountains, and that the 
Jewish princess, who had so lately conversed with him 



THE SHIPWRECK. 325 

in his prison at Coesarea, would find her tomb in that 
ruin, with the child she had borne to Felix." * 

At Puteoli the Apostle found a small company of 
disciples, with whom he was permitted to tarry seven 
days. From Puteoli they proceeded to Home, but 
news of Paul's coming reached the Christians in 
Rome before the Apostle could get there. Some of 
them, doubtless, were personally acquainted with the 
Apostle, and among that number it is highly pro- 
bable that his old friends Aquila and Priscilla were to 
be found. But whether that were so or not, the 
brethren in Rome w r ere not deficient in sympathy. 
Some of them went as far as Appii Forum, and 
others to the Three Taverns, to meet the Apostle, 
"whom, when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took 
courage." Thus comforted, by the sight of old, and 
the sympathy of new, friends, the Apostle w T ent on 
his way rejoicing, to bear witness for the new faith in 
Imperial Rome. 

* Conybeare and Howson. 



" Oil, bearer of all shame ! 

Oh, earth's most glorious name ! 
Oh, weakling, by whom mightiest deeds were done ! 

Oh, prisoner, whose strong stroke 

Ten thousand fetters broke ! 
Oh, outcast, by whose word the world was won ! 

Oh, bruised one, whose cheer ran o'er 
To make divinely glad all souls for evermore ! 

Thy bright, victorious way 

'Neath scourge and fetter lay : 
The headsman met thee at Imperial Rome. 

Now lay thy burden down ! 

Now, victor, take thy crown ! 
Now, lover, stay with thy dear Lord at home ! 

Now lead that martyr-army bright ! 
Now wave that palm most green, now wear that robe most white ! ' 

Gill. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

ROME. 

When the centurion reached Rome, his first duty 
would be, to deliver up his prisoners to the Praetorian 
Prsefect, or, as the translators of the authorised version 
of the New Testament have rendered St. Luke's 
phrase, the "chief captain of the guard/' Now, the 
Apostle would he no longer under the charge of 
Julius, and might naturally suppose that his treatment 
would he somewhat more severe than he had ex- 
perienced since leaving Csesarea. But it does not 
appear that it was so. The centurion would be sure 
to give a favourable report of the prisoner Paul; and 
if he entered into any particulars of the voyage, the 
heroic conduct of the Apostle would be sure to raise 
a feeling of respect for him in the captain of the 
guard, who, as we learn from general history, was 
both a brave soldier and a good man* Moreover, 
the charge against Paul was of such a nature as not 
to excite much sympathy in favour of his persecutors 
in the mind of a Roman soldier. Accordingly, the 

* At this time Buerus, one of the best of Nero's advisers, was 
Prsetorian Prefect. — Conybeare and Houson. 



328 SCENES FROM THE LIEE OF ST. PAUL. 

Apostle was dealt with as leniently as the law would 
allow. He was not put into prison, but permitted to 
live " in his own hired house." Nevertheless, he was 
not permitted to forget that he was a prisoner, for 
night and day he would be chained to the arm of a 
Roman soldier. 

To describe the city of Rome as it was in the time 
of the Apostle, would, even supposing we had ample 
materials for such a description, carry us beyond the 
limits we have assigned to our work. But as our young 
readers may have a desire to know something about 
how the great capital of the world must have looked 
when the Apostle lived in it, we have, for their sakes, 
gathered a few notes, chiefly from the work of Messrs. 
Conybeare and Howson. 

Within a circuit of little more than twenty miles, 
upwards of tw T o millions of human beings were crowded 
together. The streets, as a matter of course, were 
nearly all very narrow and the houses high. Here, too, 
were all the contrasts to be seen in a modern city — all 
the painful lines of separation between luxury and 
squalor, wealth and want. But in Rome these con* 
trasts were on an exaggerated scale, and the institution 
of slavery modified further all social relations. The 
free citizens were more than a million: of these the 
senators were about a thousand : the knights, who 
filled most of the public offices, were more than ten 
thousand ; the troops quartered in the city may be 
reckoned at fifteen thousand ; the remaining portion 
was made up of the common citizens, most of whom 
were very poor. In Ancient Rome, the luxury of 
the wealthier classes did not produce a general difFu- 



ROME. 829 

sion of trade, as it does in a modern city. There was 
no artisan class in our sense of the ward at all, for 
nine-tenths of the labour was performed by slaves; 
and the consequence was, that a vast proportion of 
the common citizens lived on public charity. Never- 
theless, these pauper citizens were proud of their 
citizenship ; though many of them had no* better 
sleeping place for the night than the public porticoes, 
or the vestibules of the temples. They cared for little 
beyond bread for the day, the games of the circus, 
and the savage delight of gladiatorial shows. Manu- 
factures and trade they regarded as the business of 
the slave and the stranger; hence our readers may 
easily imagine what a dead weight they must have 
been, hanging on the'neck of the city. Proud, igno- 
rant, and lazy, they were fertile only in wickedness 
and vice. " The number of slaves was perhaps about 
a million. The number of strangers was much 
smaller ; but it is impossible to describe their varie- 
ties. Every kind of nationality and religion found its 
representative in Rome. But it is needless to pursue 
these details. The most obvious comparison is better 
than an elaborate description. Eome w r as like Lon- 
don, with all its miseries, vices, and follies exagge- 
rated, and without Christianity." 

When the Apostle came to Eome, there was a very 
considerable colony of Jews there ; so considerable 
indeed, that the district which they inhabited beyond 
the river formed a good-sized suburb. These Jews 
were for the most part engaged in trade, many of 
them were very weal thy [; and, though sometimes perse- 
cuted, they enjoyed a much larger degree of freedom 



330 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

under the Caesars than their countrymen did in subse- 
quent times under the Popes. 

In this city of Rome, then, St. Paul is now a 
prisoner, waiting till his Jewish persecutors appear 
against him. They were apparently in no hurry to 
come; and meanwhile the progress of the trial was 
suspended, for the Roman courts required the per- 
sonal presence of the prosecutor. It would seem that 
at this time an accused person might he kept in 
prison for an indefinite period, merely through the 
delay of those who had to appear against him. Paul 
had already been upwards of two years in confine- 
ment; and there seems every reason to believe that 
three years more passed away, leaving him still in 
bonds for the truth. The Apostle had left Csesarea for 
Rome in the autumn : his accusers did not leave Judaea 
at least before the spring following. And when they 
reached Rome, there is no reason to suppose that they 
would be very anxious to push forward the trial. 
From what had already taken place, they could not 
have formed very sanguine expectations of success. 
In fact, their case had already broken down; for 
Festus had strongly pronounced his opinion of the 
innocence of the prisoner. His prosecutors' hope 
of reversing this judgment must have been grounded 
either on influencing the Emperor's opinion, by 
private intrigue, or on producing further evidence in 
support of their accusation. For both of these ob- 
jects, delay would be necessary; and it is quite in 
accordance with the regular course of Roman law, 
that the court should grant a long suspension of the 
cause, on the petition of the prosecutor, that he might 



ROME. &8J 

be allowed time to procure the attendance of witnesses 
from a distance. Some of the charges against -Paul 
related to what had taken place in the cities of Asia 
Minor; hence the delay in his trial need not sur- 
prise us.* 

But, in the meantime, the Apostle was not idle. 
From the nature of the charge brought against him, 
the favourable opinion of Festus regarding his case, 
and, probably, through the centurion's account of what 
had taken place on the voyage, Paul was not treated 
with very great severity. As we have already seen, he 
was permitted to live in his own hired house, but 
chained night and day to the arm of a Roman soldier. 
This was indispensable, according to the Roman law; 
but the Apostle received every indulgence which it was 
possible to receive in the circumstances amidst which. 
he was placed. He was allowed to see all who came 
to him, and was permitted "to preach the kingdom 
of God, and teach those things which concern the 
Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man for- 
bidding him." 

The first use he made of this liberty, w r as to call 
the chief men of the Jews together, that he might 
explain to them why he was a prisoner. This was a 
delicate duty to perform, for the Jews were jealous of 
any member of their nation who appealed unto Caesar. 
It was a recognition of the Roman power which the 
haughty Jew did not like, and those who appealed 
unto Caesar were regarded in the light of traitors. 
Now the Apostle had not only appealed to Caesar, but 
he had done so on a question of Jewish law; hence, 

* Convbeare and Howson. 



332 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

he was naturally anxious to prove to his countrymen 
in Eome, that the injustice and intolerance of the 
chief priests and the Sanhedrin had left him no alter- 
native save the course he had adopted. For three 
years at least, it had been the Apostle's most earnest 
desire to preach the Gospel in Eome. He knew that 
his trial would most probably be delayed for a con- 
siderable time. It was true wisdom, therefore, to 
appeal at once to his countrymen and gain a fair 
hearing for his cause. 

"When he had called the chief of the Jews together, 
he said unto them, "Men and brethren, though I 
have committed nothing against the people or customs 
of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jeru- 
salem into the hands of the Eomans ; who, when they 
had examined me w T ould have let me go, because there 
was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews 
spake against me, I was constrained to appeal unto 
Caesar; not that I had aught to accuse my nation of. 
For this cause, therefore, have I called for you, to see 
you, and to speak w T ith you ; because that for the hope 
of Israel, I am bound with this chain." Having spoken 
thus, he waited to hear what answer his countrymen* 
had to give. They immediately replied, "We have 
neither received letters out of Judsea concerning thee, 
nor have any of the brethren who have come here 
from thence either showed or spoken any harm of 
thee. But w r e desire to hear of thee, what thou 
thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that 
everywhere it is spoken against." The invitation 
thus given was willingly accepted: a day was fixed 
for a meeting at the Apostle's lodging, and many 



home. 333 

came together to hear him expound the leading prin- 
ciples of the new faith. Then followed one of the 
most impressive scenes, perhaps, in the eventful life 
of the Apostle. We may picture in our own minds 
what it must have heen. There were the prisoner Paul 
and the Soman soldier to whom he was chained, the 
Apostle's private friends, and his Jewish audience, 
brought together partly from curiosity, and partly 
from an honest desire to hear something about the 
new sect, " everywhere spoken against," yet capable 
of sending forth so many teachers who could also 
become martyrs when the occasion required them. 

The Apostle spoke long and earnestly in behalf of 
the new faith to those Jews who came to his house ; 
quoting the Scriptures, and employing such arguments 
as would be likely to have weight with his hearers; 
" persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the 
law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning 
till evening." But, after all, what argument was equal 
to that which his own personal history afforded ? 
Born a Jew, and educated carefully, according to the 
principles of the strictest Jewish sect, he had aban- 
doned a prosperous career — wealth and fame, and 
joined himself to the sect he had taken the lead in per- 
secuting. Then, after 20 years of toil and suffering, 
borne bravely as the teacher of Christianity, his faith 
remained unshaken. There he stood, (i the outcast of 
Jewish hate and Pagan scorn ; his back scarred with 
stripes, and his hands heavy with bonds/' pleading 
earnestly and eloquently on behalf of that cause for 
which he had laboured so faithfully and sacrificed so 
much. The immediate result, however, of the Apos- 



334 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

tie's address was a division among his hearers — not 
peace, but a sword — a division by no means uncom- 
mon when the truth of God is bravely spoken. The 
word of truth goes forth with power, and encounters, 
side by side, earnest conviction and w T orldly indif- 
ference, honest investigation with bigoted prejudice ; 
the simple love of truth for its own sake, with the lust 
for power and the pride of sect. Thus it was gene- 
rally in the case of St. Paul's teaching, and Rome 
formed no exception. After a long and stormy discus- 
sion, the unbelieving portion of his audience departed, 
but not till the Apostle had warned them that the 
truth which they rejected would be offered to and 
accepted by the Gentiles. Whatever may have been 
the state of feeling with which the Jews in Rome re- 
ceived Paul, he soon had enemies in abundance 
amongst them — enemies, too, who w T ould be prepared 
to act with his accusers when they should come from 
Jerusalem^ for theological hatred is ever zealous. 
Nevertheless, the Apostle lived two whole years in his 
ow r n hired house, in bonds for the Gospel of Jesus, yet 
receiving all who came to him, and teaching boldly 
the very truth for which he was suffering, thus making 
the chains with which his enemies had loaded him 
bear witness for the truth. We need not be surprised, 
therefore, to hear that his labours in Rome were most 
successful ; that, to use his own words, " he begot 
many children in his bonds." 

But during the time of his imprisonment in Rome, 
the Apostle had a wider sphere of action than 
even the metropolis of the world. Not only the 
crowds which flocked to hear him daily, but also the 



ROME. 335 

care of all the churches demanded his attention. 
Though tied down to a single spot himself, he 
kept up a constant communication with his converts 
throughout the empire, and not only with his own 
converts, bat with other Gentile churches to whom his 
personal presence was unknown. To enable him to do 
this, he had many faithful friends, w T ho were his zea- 
lous co-workers. Among these were Luke, Timothy, 
Demas, and, probably, Mark, the nephew of Barnabas. 
Three, at least, of the Apostle's Epistles were written 
at Eome during this imprisonment, and there seems 
great reason to believe that many more were written 
w^hich are now T lost. 

At this point in St. Paul's life, the Acts of the 
Apostles suddenly terminates. Why St. Luke's narra- 
tive should leave the Apostle a prisoner in Rome, is 
one of those questions which every intelligent reader 
is sure to ask, but to which no satisfactory answer 
can be given. Some have fancied that the Acts was 
written while St. Paul was in Eome. If that were so, 
then we have a sufficient reason for the narrative 
ending where it does, but we should still be at a loss 
to explain why St. Luke did not at a subsequent 
period carry the history forward to the martyrdom of 
the Apostle. Doubtless, there is a sufficient reason 
for the book ending where it does if we only knew 7 
how to get at it, but, in the absence of that know- 
ledge, it is useless to speculate ; more especially" as 
we have no certain information to guide us. 

We can give no particulars, therefore, regarding St. 
Paul's trial before Nero ; neither can we form any idea of 
the arguments and evidence by which his Jewish perse- 



336 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

cutors supported their cause. But, if we can put any 
reliance on tradition, the case for the prosecution broke 
down, and the Apostle was once more free. This tra- 
dition we are inclined to put some faith in, because it is 
confirmed in a most singular manner by some passages 
in the Epistles. It seems highly probable, then, that 
the Apostle visited once more the churches in Greece 
and Asia Minor. If so, he met the elders of Ephesus 
again, and his own sad forebodings on the shore at 
Miletus were not fulfilled. Tradition affirms also, 
that St. Paul accomplished a long-cherished idea 
of a journey into Spain; returned to the East, 
and was finally arrested at Nicopolis, and sent from 
thence to Eonie a prisoner. Persecution had then 
begun in earnest against the Christians in Eome. 
Many had been put to death in the most barbarous 
ways that it is possible to conceive of. If St. Paul 
was taken to Eome in the midst of that persecution, 
and there is much probability in favour of the suppo- 
sition, then his second imprisonment must have 
been very different from the first. He would no 
longer be permitted to live in his own hired house, 
but be treated, in every sense of the word, as if he 
were a malefactor. His friends, indeed, might be per- 
mitted to see him, but preaching would not be allowed. 
Now this is just the state of things described in the 
Second Epistle to Timothy. That letter was evidently 
written in a Eoman prison, and when things in Eome 
had assumed a much sterner aspect towards the new 
faith than they had done at the time when the Acts of 
the Apostles breaks off. From the Second Epistle to 
Timothv we learn that it was so dangerous to show 



ROME. 337 

any public sympathy for the Apostle that no one 
would venture to stand by him in the court of justice. 
" At my first answer/' he says, u no man stood with 
me, but all men forsook me; I pray God that it may 
not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the 
Lord stood with me ; and strengthened me." And as 
the last stage of his trial draws near he looks forward 
to death as his sentence with a certainty, which shows 
that he could not have much hope of acquittal. But 
the tranquil old man knows no fear. " I am now 
ready to be offered up," he says, " and the time of my 
departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I 
have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; hence- 
forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at 
that day ; and not to me only, but to all them that 
love his appearing/' If the tradition which tells us of 
a second imprisonment is true, then the Apostle, must 
have been nearly 70 'years of age when this letter to 
Timothy was written ; and when we think of the life 
he had lived, we can easily fancy the record which time 
had kept of hardships, toils, and cares on the Apos- 
tle's face and brow. He had fought the good fight 
well and bravely, and the trace of many a hard-won 
victory would be there ; but the soul which animated 
that toil-worn, emaciated frame, and lighted up that 
bright, flashing eye, was as full of courage, affection, 
and zeal as ever. 

The Second Epistle to Timothy was written during 
the time that the Apostle's trial was going forward, 
and probably after the sentence of death was pro* 

Q 



338 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

nounced ; but though the tone of the Apostle's writing 
is here softened and subdued, it gives no evidence 
whatever of declining mental power, of decreasing 
faith, or wavering affection. With touching simplicity 
he says, "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: 
for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present 
world, and is departed unto Thessalonica ; Crescens to 
Galatia; Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with 
me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee, for he is 
profitable to me for the ministry/' What a depth of 
true human feeling these few words reveal ! Looking 
his last great trial full in the face, and feeling that he 
was soon about to be offered up, he nevertheless yearns 
to have those around him who had clung to him 
through good and through ill report, and who were his 
dearest earthly friends. Whether his last wish was 
gratified, and he was permitted to see his dearly-beloved 
Timothy again, we cannot tell. Over the last scenes 
of the Apostle's life a veil has been drawn which it is 
now impossible to uplift. Who was with him in his 
last moments, or the manner in which he met his 
death, we know not. But of this we may rest assured, 
his death w T as worthy of his life ; for, after all that has 
been said about martyrdom, it is a much easier thing 
to die for a faith than it is to live for it, from day to 
day, in the presence of difficulties and temptations. 
St. Paul's greatest trial was not his last. His mar- 
tyrdom may be said to have commenced when he first 
learnt that truth was on one side, followed closely by 
poverty and persecution ; and friendship, wealth, and 
fame, with an outwardly respectable cause, on the other. 



ROME. 339 

That martyrdom was continued through all the perils, 
stripes, and imprisonments which he had to encounter 
in his missionary labours. We have seen how the 
entreaties of his friends in Caesarea nearly broke his 
heart, but could not persuade him to step aside from 
the path of duty. Think of him as he stood in the 
council-chamber of the guilty Felix, preaching, with 
prophet-like earnestness, of "righteousness, tem- 
perance, and judgment to come," till the hardened 
Koinan began to tremble ; or of Paul the prisoner, 
chained to the arm of a Roman soldier, teaching 
Christianity to the crowds that flocked daily to his 
house; and you will have no difficulty in believing that 
he did not tremble even when he came face to face 
with the executioner and the instruments of death. 
St. Paul was a Eoman citizen ; he would therefore be 
spared those tortures which accompanied the death of 
so many of his brethren in that age. Tradition affirms 
that he was beheaded. But, whatever the form of his 
death may have been, the lesson which it reads to us 
is the same. His death is significant, because it was 
the consummation of a life nobly spent in the service 
of God and man. 

1 i Calmly, calmly, lay him down ; 
He hath fought a noble fight ; 
He hath battled for the right ; 
He hath won the fadeless crown. 

Memories all too bright for tears 

Crowd around us from the past ; 

He was faithful to the last — 
Faithful through long, toilsome years. 

Q 3 



340 SCENES EROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

Meek and gentle was his soul. 

Yet it had a glorious might ; 

Clouded minds it filled with light, 
"Wounded spirits it made whole. 

Hoping, trusting, lay him down I 
Many in the realms above 
Look for him with eyes of love, 

Wreathing his immortal crown," 



CHAPTER XXV. 



THE EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL. 



One day Abdiel found Paul at Tarsus, after his Damascus journey, 
sitting, meek and thoughtful, at the door of his house, his favourite 
books and the instruments of his craft lying neglected beside him. 
" Strange tidings I hear of you,'' said the sleek rabbi; "you, also, 
have become a follower of the Nazarene ! "What course shall you now 
pursue ?" 

" I shall go and preach the Gospel to all nations," said the new con- 
vert, gently. 

The rabbi, who felt a sour interest in Paul, looked at him with 
affected incredulity, and asked, "Do you know the sacrifice you make? 
You must lose father and friends. You will fare hard, and encounter 
peril. You will be impoverished, called hard names, persecuted, 
scourged, perhaps put to death. 5 ' 

" None of these things move me," said Paul. " I have counted the 
cost. I value not life half so much as keeping God's law, and pro- 
claiming the truth, though all men forbid. I shall walk by God's 
light, and fear not. I am no longer a slave to the old law of sin and 
death, but a free man of God, made free by the law of the spirit of 
life in Christ Jesus." 

Years passed over ; the word of God grew and prevailed. One day 
it was whispered at Tarsus, and ran swiftly from mouth to mouth 
in the market-place, "Paul, the Apostate, lies in chains at Rome, 
daily expecting the lions. His next trouble will be his last." And 
Abdiel said to his fellow-priests in the synagogue, ' ' I knew it would 
come to this. How much better to have kept to his trade, and the 
old ways of his fathers and the prophets." 

Thus went it at Tarsus. But, meantime, in his dungeon at Rome, 
Paul sat comforted. The Lord stood by him in a vision, and said, 
"Fear not, Paul. Thou hast fought the good fight; lo, I am with 
thee to the end of the world ! " 

The tranquil old man replied, "I know whom I have served, and 
am thoroughly persuaded that God will keep what I have committed 
to Him. I have not the spirit of fear, but of love and a sound mind. 
I shall finish my course with joy, for I see the crown of righteousness 
laid up for me ; and now my salvation is more perfect, and my hope 
is higher than when first 1 believed." 

Then in his heart spoke that voice which had spoken before on the 
Mount of Transfiguration, "Thou also art my beloved son. In thee 
am I well pleased." — Adapted from Theodore Parker. 



CHAPTEE XXV. 

THE EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL. 

The purpose of this book is to give an account of the 
leading events in the life of St. Paul, not an exposi- 
tion of his writings and teachings ; yet our work would 
hardly be completed if we did not glance at some of 
the more prominent features of the Apostle's teachings. 
The life and epistles of Paul fill a large portion of the 
New Testameut. Whatever tends to give us a deeper 
insight of his character, or a more living conception of 
the circumstances amidst which he laboured, must be 
of great service to us in our reading of the New Tes- 
tament. Thus, when we trace the rise of one of those 
Gentile churches founded by the Apostle, and are able 
to form some notion of the materials out of which it 
was built up, we are surely in a better position for the 
understanding of one of the Apostle's letters to those 
churches than if we had no such previous knowledge. 
From what we have already said regarding the origin 
of some of those letters, our readers will have no diffi- 
culty in perceiving that all of them must have been 
written to meet the wants and solve the difficulties felt 
by Christians in St. Paul's own day. They reflect the 
spirit and give us a glimpse of the life of the first cen- 



344 SCENES FHOM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

tury. " They are the very earliest Christian writings 
we possess. They are the productions of a man more 
clearly known to ns than any of the first missionaries 
of the Gospel. They are letters : abounding in dis- 
closures of personal feelings, of biographical inci- 
dent, of changing moods of thought, of outward and 
inward conflict. They are addressed to young com- 
munities, scattered over a vast area, and composed of 
differing elements ; and exhibit the whole fermentation 
of their new life, the scruples, the heart-burnings, the 
noble inspirations, the grievous factions, of the Apos- 
tolic age." * It is true that the common religious use 
made of the Epistles of St. Paul is founded on a very 
different conception of their origin and purpose. The 
multitude of Bible readers seem to fancy that the 
Epistles of Paul are a series of dissertations on 
Christian doctrine, designed to set forth, with infallible 
exactness, what is to be believed by the Church in all 
time. The fact is, the majority of readers do not 
regard the letters of the Apostle as the production of a 
human being at all. They believe that Paul was only 
a passive agent in the hands of a higher Power ; not a 
Jiving creature of love and faith, but the channel 
through which the Holy Spirit poured religious in- 
struction to mankind. We have known young people 
brought up in views of this kind who, finding, after 
they had grown up, that it was impossible to reconcile 
them with some of the most indisputable facts con- 
cerning the origin of the New Testament, have sud- 
denly abandoned Christianity altogether. It is, there- 
fore, a matter of great importance — as helping us to 
* James Martineau. 



THE EPISTLES OE ST. PAUL. 345 

understand what the Apostle has written, and as show- 
ing us the rightful authority of his teachings — to have 
a true idea of the origin and purpose of his writings. 

Now, if the letters of St. Paul give expression to 
the thoughts and feelings of his own mind and heart, 
and were called forth by the circumstances in which 
he was placed and the ever-changing condition of the 
churches he had planted, then we should naturally 
expect them to deal with the controversies, the temp- 
tations, the hopes, and the faith of the early Church 
first of all, and he only applicable to the wants of the 
church in our own day in so far as they set forth 
eternal principles of truth and equity. At the same 
time, as we know that the Apostle, though a great and 
a good man, was not infalfible in his actions, so we 
should as little expect to find him infallible in his 
writings. It is not given to any man to see both 
sides of every question which comes before him. The 
Apostle was engaged in a terrible conflict with 
Paganism on the one hand, and Judaism on the other; 
and as often with Heathen and Jewish tendencies in 
the Church itself. That while engaged in this conflict 
he never made a mistake in action, nor employed an 
argument which, though it did not seem so to him, 
was in reality unsound; is a position which few persons 
capable of having an opinion on the matter would 
maintain. We should be careful, therefore, not to 
sanction any theory of his writings which does not 
recognize these facts. 

But, coming to the letters themselves, with even a 
partial knowledge of the Apostle's life and the relation 

Q 3 



346 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

in which he stood to his converts, the first thing that 
strikes us is the smallness of their number. That a 
man whose whole nature was so absorbed in the work 
he had undertaken, and who was evidently in constant 
communication with the churches he had planted, 
should, in the course of nearly thirty years, have had 
occasion to write only thirteen letters, is hardly what 
we should have expected. Accordingly, we are not sur- 
prised to find that it was not so. We know, from those 
that have been preserved, that some of the Apostle's 
letters have been lost ; and we are probably not far 
wrong in supposing that many have been. This fact 
ought to be borne in mind in reading those we have; 
for, though it does not in the least lessen their value 
as expressions of St. Pauf s thought and feeling, it is 
fatal to the notion that they were designed to give 
a systematic exposition of the leading doctrines of 
Christianity. " No such plan or unity can be really 
conceived as existing in the Apostle's own mind ; for 
he could never have distinguished between the Epistles 
destined to be lost and those which have been allowed 
to survive; and to attribute such apian to an over- 
ruling Providence would be an arbitrary fancy, in- 
volving, not inspiration, but the supernatural selection 
and preservation of particular Epistles, and destructive 
to all natural ideas of the Gospel. It is a striking 
illustration of what may be termed the incidental cha- 
racter of Christianity, that— not without a Providence 
in this as in all other earthly things — some of the 
Epistles of St. Paul, in the course of nature, as if by 
chance, are for ever lost to us ; while others, as if by 



THE EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL. 347 

chance, are handed down to be the treasures of the 
Christian world in all ages/'* Yet there is no reason 
to suppose that those which have been preserved were 
more sacred than those that are lost. 

We have seen how fierce the conflict was between 
Judaism and Christianity, and not outside the Church 
only, for the Judaizers who tracked the Apostle's 
steps, and sowed the seeds of strife among his fol- 
lowers, were the most formidable opponents that 
St. Paul had to contend against. We should expect, 
therefore, to find broad traces of this controversy in 
the Epistles. And we do so in two ways. The letter 
to the Galatians, as we have already seen, was called 
forth expressly by this controversy ; and a large por- 
tion of Eomans and 2nd Corinthians relates to it ; 
while distinct traces of it may also be found in the 
other Epistles. We know the attitude which St. Paul 
took in regard to this controversy, and need not repeat 
here what we have already laid before our readers in 
another form ; but we should like to guard them 
against a mistake which many readers of the New 
Testament make, who confound the controversy in 
which Paul took a part with one which had its origin 
in modern times. Thus, some people, when they read 
the Apostle's strong denunciations of those Judaizers 
who sought to bring men under the bondage of the 
law, fancy that he was thinking of the moral law, and 
point triumphantly to such passages, in proof of the 
notion that a moral life has nothing to do with man's 
salvation. That such a thought never entered the 
Apostle's mind is manifest in the whole tone and 

* Professor Jowett. 



348 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

spirit of his writings, and particularly so in the con- 
cluding portion of the letter to the Galatians. This 
letter was called forth hy this controversy about the 
law, and contains strong passages in condemnation of 
those Judaizers who made Christ of no avail by their 
gospel of circumcision; yet never was the nature and 
eternal obligation of the moral law more distinctly 
unfolded than it is in the last two chapters of this 
Epistle. The Apostle assures his Galatian converts 
that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any 
avail in the sight of God : but faith that worketh by 
love ; and after enumerating the works of the Spirit, 
all of which are included in a well-ordered religious 
life, he goes on to say, — " For every man shall bear 

his own burden Be not deceived ; God is not 

mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 
also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the 
flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the Spirit 
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us 
not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall 
reap, if we faint not."* This does not look, certainly, 
as if the Apostle taught that Christ had set men free 
from the moral law. Men must still reap as they sow ; 
hence the punishment which comes from the breaking 
of the moral law is the same under the Christian as it 
was under the Jewish dispensation ; from the ritual 
guilt alone which was supposed to attach to him who 
broke the ceremonial law of Moses, did the death of 
Christ set men free. 

But though the Apostle was the determined oppo- 
nent of the Judaizers, he was, nevertheless, the con- 
* Galatians vi. 5. 7, 8, 9. 



THE EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL. 349 

sistent advocate of a united and a comprehensive 
Church. He did not, as we have already seen, insist 
on the Jew abandoning the manners and customs of 
his forefathers, and wisely recommended that men 
should have forbearance one towards another in things 
non-essential. Thus, in his letter to the Bomans,* he 
speaks, in the spirit of broadest charity, of many 
questions which were then deemed of vital importance, 
and his words are still applicable to some of the con- 
troversies of our own day. " Him that is weak in 
the faith/' says the Apostle, " receive ye, but not to 
doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may 
eat all things : another, who is weak, eateth herbs. 
Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not ; 
and let not him who eateth not judge him that eateth : 
for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest 
another man's servant ? To his own master he standeth 
or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up, for God is 
able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one 
day above another : another esteemeth every day 
alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own 
mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto 
the Lord: and he that regardeth not the day, to the 
Lord he doth not regard it," So, too, when the 
Corinthian Church seemed in danger of splitting up 
into a number of distinct parties, the Apostle wrote 
to the Corinthians, urging them to keep the unity of 
spirit in the bond of peace. But this unity could 
only be preserved by mutual forbearance. The moment 
one party claimed precedence for its own peculiarities, 
insisting on them as essential to salvation, which was 
* See Chapters xii., xiii., and xiv. 



850 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

what the Judaiziog party did, then unity was at an 
end. Some common bond, therefore, deeper than in- 
tellectual agreement, had to be found, as the central 
idea of the Church's life, and the Apostle sought that 
bond in spiritual allegiance to Christ. There were in 
the Corinthian Church very considerable differences of 
opinion and sentiment, but St. Paul saw in those dif- 
ferences no reason why the Church should be divided. 
One might call himself a follower of Peter ; another 
of Apollos; and another of Paul; but Christ was not 
divided. The Gospel was not a mere creed to wrangle 
about, but a Divine life in the soul. Where that life 
was felt and cherished, other things became of secon- 
dary importance. The great purpose of the Church 
was to call forth and nourish that life in its members, 
so that all might become new creatures in Christ 
Jesus, and one with him in God. Among the indi- 
viduals of whom the Church was composed, there 
might be great diversity of gifts, and yet the same 
spirit; differences of administration, but the same 
Lord ; diversities of operations, but the same God 
working in all. As in the human body there are 
many members making one body, so in the Church, 
which is Christ's body, there is a place and a duty for 
each member — the directing mind the preacher, to 
instruct; and the working hand, ready to execute the 
suggestions of mercy and love. All the members 
have not the same gifts, but all should work accord- 
ing to their ability, and the whole Church should be 
so bound together by the spirit of love, that if one 
member suffer, all should suffer with him ; if one be 
honoured, all- should "be ready to rejoice. Then, lest 



THE EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL. 351 

some of the members should pride themselves on their 
superior gifts, and despise the humbler workers, the 
Apostle goes on to speak of something which is infi- 
nitely higher than the highest gifts; and of which all 
may become possessed. " Though I speak with the 
tongues of men and angels, and have not love, I am 
become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And 
though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand 
all mysteries, and all knowledge ; and though I have 
faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not 
love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my 
goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to 
be burned, and have not love, it proflteth me nothing. 
Love suffered! long, and is kind; love envieth not; 
love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up ; doth not 
behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not 
easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in 
iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, 
believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all 
things. Love never faileth : but whether there be pro- 
phecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they 
shall cease ; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish 
away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is 
in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake 
as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a 
child; but when I became a man, I put away childish 
things,. For now we see through a glass darkly, but 
then face to face ; now, I know in part, but then shall 
I know even as also I am known. And now abideth 
faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is 
love." In quoting this beautiful chapter our readers 



352 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

will perceive that we have substituted the word " love " 
for "charity," which they will find in their New 
Testaments. We have done so because we think the 
one word will convey to their minds more clearly the 
Apostle's meaning than the other. It may be inter- 
nesting to know that the same Greek word which is 
translated " charity" in the 13th Chapter of 1st Corin- 
thians, is translated "love" in the Epistle of St. John; 
and though in neither case, perhaps, does the word 
used convey the full meaning of the original, yet when 
we think of God as love, and of those who dwell in 
love dwelling in God and God in them, we seem to 
see more clearly what St. Paul meant when he spoke of 
charity as greatest of all. 

We learn, too, from the Epistles, that the kingdom 
and second coming of Christ formed a prominent sub- 
ject of the Apostle's teaching. From the vague re- 
ferences to the nature of that kingdom in the Epistles 
it seems impossible now to discover what the Apostle's 
conception of it actually was, One thing, however, is 
beyond all doubt ; St. Paul lived in the firm conviction 
that the end of the world was at hand. This fact we 
have already noticed, and we only allude to it again 
because it seems to throw some light on the Apostle's 
conception of Christ's kingdom. It is not given to 
any man, perhaps, and, still less, to a man naturally 
so warmhearted as St. Paul, to break away from all 
the influences of his early life ; for though the thought 
of his childhood expands as the soul rises to a higher 
elevation and takes the sweep of a wider horizon, 
yet the mould in which it is cast is always more or 
less after the same pattern. The Jew on becoming a 



THE EPISTLES OP ST. PAUL. 353 

Christian did not abandon altogether his Jewish modes 
of thinking. The Greek, though he became a new crea- 
ture in Christ, was in many respects a Pagan still. St. 
Paul, the son of a Jew and a Pharisee, was doubtless edu- 
cated in the ordinary Jewish belief regarding the Messiah. 
After his conversion his Jewish belief was spiritualized 
and became immeasurably expanded. As a Jew he 
had known Christ after the flesh; but as a Christian 
he knew him only as a spiritual Lord. Of all the 
Apostles, St. John alone excepted, St. Paul had the 
truest and noblest idea of Christ's kingdom. Yet it 
is not difficult to trace even in Paul's idea the in- 
fluences of his early Jewish training. His idea of the 
Messiah's kingdom was infinitely more spiritual as a 
Christian than as a Jew. Men were to live as brothers 
the wide earth over ; and war, misery, and crime, were 
to cease ; but he still believed in a visible coming of 
the Son of God and a kingdom here on the earth. 
Some writers have fancied that they could trace a 
gradual change in the Apostle's sentiment on this 
question even after he became a Christian. They 
think that as time and experience unfolded to him their 
solemn lesson, he began to transfer his conception of 
Christ's kingdom from earth to heaven ; hence his 
yearning to depart and be with Christ. Such a change 
would have been quite in keeping with the character 
of the Apostle's mind, and should not, therefore, have 
surprised us ; but, we confess, that we have not been 
able to find much trace of it in the Epistles, for some 
of the latest of them still speak of the coming of the 
Lord. But, after all, the mistake was in the form 
rather than the substance of the Apostle's faith. The 



354 SCENES FROM THE LTEE OF ST. PAUL. 

end of the world to each one is never far distant ; 
and though the prophet, who sees the fruit already pre- 
sent in the spring bud, miscalculates the time that the 
blossom will require to blow and the fruit to ripen, yet- 
the autumn, though delayed, will surely come and 
fulfil the glorious promise of the spring. So, too, in 
God's owtl time, shall the Apostle's glorious vision of 
a day of righteousness, holiness, and love for suffering 
and downtrodden humanity assuredly be fulfilled. 

u Behold, we know not anything. 

We can but trust that good shall fall 
At last — far off— at last to all, 
And every winter change to spring." 

St. Paul saw in Christ the glorious promise of such 
a kingdom, and the very vividness of the Apostle's 
conception of it shows how real his spiritual commu- 
nion with Christ must have been. 

There are other doctrines set forth in these Epistles, 
of which it was our intention to have said something, 
but the space allotted to this chapter is already nearly 
filled, and we have still to call the attention of our 
readers to the fact, which the Epistles of St. Paul bring 
very vividly before us, that we have in the Acts of the 
Apostles but a very imperfect and fragmentary account 
of the Apostle's toils and sufferings as the missionary 
of the new faith. The Epistles, on the whole, confirm 
the accuracy of St. Luke's narrative, but go far beyond 
it. At the time the two letters to the Corinthians were 
written, the Apostle had not been shipwrecked at 
Merita. Yet he says in that letter, — " Of the Jews 
five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice 



THE EPISTLES OE ST. PAUL. 355 

was I beaten with rods ; once was I stoned ; thrice I 
suffered shipwreck ; a night and a day I have been in 
the deep." We have no particulars of these incidents 
in the Acts, with the exception of one of the Korean 
scourgings and the stoning. St. Luke's history, there- 
fore, unlike the history of most heroes and saints, 
does not magnify the Apostle's toils and trials. The 
image reflected from these Epistles is almost one of the 
noblest that the mind can conceive of. Here was a 
most rare self-devotion ; a heroism and a love almost 
unparalleled, yet displayed not in behalf of family or 
national interests, but in behalf of humanity. And 
however much we may glory in that life now r , and 
honour in our hearts the man who lived it, yet in 
Paul's day, as it was before and has been since, the 
world was not worthy of its noblest benefactor, for it 
was no long life of ministerial success on which he was 
looking back a little before his death, where he says, — 
" I have fought the good fight ; I have finished my 
course ; I have kept the faith." These words are sadly 
illustrated by another verse of the same Epistle : " This 
thou knowest, all they which are in Asia be turned 
away from me." So, when the contrast was at its 
height, he passed away, rejoicing in persecution also, 
and filling up that which was behind of the afflictions 
of Christ for his body's sake. Many, if not most, of 
his followers had forsaken him ; and there is no certain 
memorial of the manner of his death. Let us look 
once more a little closer at that " visage marred " in his 
master's service, as it appears about three years before 
on a well-known scene. A poor, aged man, worn by 
some bodily or mental disorder, who had been often 



356 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OP ST. PAUL. 

scourged, and bore on his face the traces of in- 
dignity and sorrow in every form, — such an one, 
led out of prison between Roman soldiers — probably 
at times faltering in his utterance; the creature, 
as he seemed to spectators, of nervous sensibility, 
yearning, almost with a sort of fondness, to save the 
souls of those whom he saw around him — spoke a few 
eloquent words in the cause of Christian truth at which 
kings were awed, telling the tale of his own conversion 
with such simple pathos, that after ages have hardly 
heard the like. 

" Such is the image, not which Christian art has 
delighted to consecrate, but which the Apostle has left 
in his own writings of himself; an image of true 
wisdom, and nobleness, and affection, but of a wisdom 
unlike the wisdom of this world; of a nobleness 
which must not be transformed into that of the heroes 
of the world; an affection which seemed to be as 
strong and as individual towards all mankind as other 
men are capable of feeling towards a single person/' * 

* Professor Jowett. 



CHAPTER XXYI. 



CONCLUSION. 



11 thou great friend to all the sons of men, 
"Who once appear' d in humblest guise below, 
Sin to rebuke, to break the captive's chain, 

And call thy brethren forth from want and woe ! 

We look to thee ! thy truth is still the Light 
Which guides the nations, groping on their way, 

Stumbling and falling in disastrous night, 
Yet hoping ever for the perfect day. 

Yes ! thou art still the Life ; thou art the "Way 

The holiest know — Light, Life, and Way of heaven ! 

And they who dearest hope and deepest pray, 

Toil by the Light, Life, Way which thou hast given ! " 

T. Parker. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

CONCLUSION. 

The question naturally presents itself to our minds 
after we have been passing in review the leading scenes 
in the life of St. Paul, how far was the Apostle justi- 
fied in choosing as he did ? Was it right for him to 
sacrifice outward peace, and the rewards of his own 
time, in order to become the missionary of a despised 
and hated cause ? And the answer we give to these 
questions will depend, to some extent, on the stand- 
point from which we regard them. If we look at them 
from the platform of mere worldly experience, it may 
seem as if the Apostle made a great mistake in giving 
up the so-called substantial good things of this life for 
a mere vision of future good to mankind; but if we 
look at them from the citadel of duty and the watch- 
tower of conscience, assuredly our answer will be very 
different. The path of duty may be hard, rough, and 
thorny, and the life to which it leads a battle which no 
peace follows on this side the grave, but all history pro- 
claims that it is the highest and holiest life for man. 
Imagine Paul, the despised Apostle, preaching Chris- 
tianity under the walls of Nero's palace. History has 
few greater contrasts to present, and yet the two men 



360 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

symbolized, in a most striking manner, the two powers 
then struggling for the mastery of the w r orld. From 
that time, may it not be said that there were but two 
religious in the Roman world : the worship of the Em- 
peror and tbe faith of Christ ? The old religions had 
lost their hold on the public mind, and there remained 
for civilized man no other worship possible but the 
-worship of power; and the incarnation of power to 
which the multitude naturally looked up was the 
Roman Emperor. " But a new doctrine was already 
taught in the Forum, and believed even on Palatine. 
Over against the altars of Nero and Poppsea the voice 
of a prisoner was daily heard, and daily woke, in gro- 
velling souls, the consciousness of their Divine des- 
tiny/' * Men listened, and learned to know that self- 
sacrifice was better than ease ; to suffer better than to 
reign, as things then were ; and, catching the speaker's 
enthusiasm, they went forth to teach, by word and 
deed, his blessed doctrines to the world. Thus it came 
that, side by side with the worship of mere power, and 
in the midst of the most unblushing profligacy, there 
sprang up a new worship of One who was not merely 
powerful, but infinitely just and good. The elements 
of a new and a higher civilization were thus giving 
signs of their vitality even when the old order of things 
was fast going to corruption. But the old did not 
give place to the new without a struggle; and the 
struggle which then began has become one of the most 
instructive chapters of human history. Nero could 
fetter the Apostle's limbs, and send the Christians to 
the lions, but the truth of God was not bound, and 
* Conybeare and Howson. 



CONCLUSION. 361 

the Roman Emperor, with all his power, could not 
crush the new life which Christianity had awakened in 
the hearts of men. The word of God grew and multi- 
plied. It soon took root in all the cities and towns of 
the Roman empire, and wherever it sprang up it pro- 
duced fruit after its kind. 

We began by giving our readers a brief sketch of 
the state of the world before the introduction of 
Christianity ; we shall end by glancing at the influence 
which the new religion exerted on the life of man. 
The subject is a wide one, and the materials for a 
thorough knowledge of it are not very ample ; we shall 
confine our abstract, therefore, to some of the more 
obvious and undisputed moral results produced by the 
preaching of Christ's doctrines. 

The Acts of the Apostles ends abruptly, leaving St. 
Paul a prisoner in Eome, and we have no authentic 
history of the Church for many years afterwards. We 
know that the new religion continued to spread 
throughout the Roman empire ; but mainly among the 
underlying masses of the people. The complaint of 
St. Paul, "Not many noble are called," might have 
been made with equal truth long after the Apostle's 
death. " Without adopting Gibbon's contemptuous 
estimate of the body of primitive believers, we cannot 
doubt that it comprised very mixed ingredients; we 
know that it contained great numbers of the servile 
class, and very few whose station and culture gave 
them access to the higher ideas familiar to the schools 
of philosophy ; yet, from those unpromising sources 
arose a society which, in severity of morals, in inten- 
sity of affection, in heroism of endurance, reversed the 

R 



362 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

habits of the world to which it belonged." * To ac- 
count for this change we must go back to the life and 
teachings of Jesus. 

Nothing is more characteristic of primitive Christi- 
anity than the deep trust which it taught men to 
place in the moral sentiments which form so important 
a part of human nature. No teacher ever threw him- 
self with so much manly faith and simple earnestness 
on the divinity enshrined in the soul of man as Jesus 
did. He lived in an age of great wickedness, when 
men's hearts were hard and their sympathies con- 
tracted ; but he rose above the age, both in thought and 
action, and was ever more anxious to save men from, 
than to condemn them for, their sins. He knew what 
was in man too well not to see that the life he was 
then living was far from being as noble as it might 
have been ; but he proposed no mode of reforming 
men in the mass. He had faith only in those influences 
which sink deep into the mind and rouse the slum- 
bering affections of the heart. To him religion was 
neither a creed nor a ceremony, but a divine life. It 
was the pure in heart who were to see God; the 
doers of righteousness who were to find blessedness 
and peace. Mere lip homage and formal obedience 
were declared to be of no avail in the sight of God ; 
and those who were obedient to the will of God were 
to know of the doctrine whether it came from God. 
Thus, in the teachings of Jesus, life goes before doc- 
trine ; not what we believe, but what we are and aspire 
to be, are the tests by which Christ tries whether we 
are worthy to be called his disciples. The great pur- 

* James Martineau. 



CONCLUSION. 3C3 

pose of Christianity, then, is moral. The religion of 
Jesus acts on the seeds of virtue, goodness, and dis- 
interestedness which God himself has sown in the soul 
of man, and developes them into nohle and beautiful 
life. It breathes a spirit of pure, healthy, vigorous 
life into the mind, and quickens all the diviner springs 
of thought and action in the soul. Hence the Apostle 
says, " If any man be in Christ he is a new creature ; 
old things are passed away ; behold, all things are be- 
come new." That this was the aim of all Christ's 
teachings may soon be made clear to any one who will 
take the trouble to read carefully the parables and dis- 
courses of the New Testament ; but it could not have 
been so had Jesus not known so well what was in man, 
and thrown himself with such unbounded trust on 
man's moral nature ; on those moral sentiments and 
affections which underlie all the accidents of education, 
climate, and race, and prove that God has made of one 
Spirit, as of one blood, all families of men. Our 
readers will see what we mean more easily, perhaps, 
by the aid of a simple illustration. If we take an 
acorn and plant it under favourable circumstances, the 
seed will germinate, and in time become a little plant. 
This plant, if watered by the rain, warmed by the sun- 
shine, and fanned by the breeze of heaven, will grow 
into a sturdy oak-tree. The rain, the sunshine, the 
wind, and the soil have been instrumental in pro- 
moting its growth, but they did not determine the kind 
of tree into which the acorn would grow. Out of an 
acorn you may grow an oak, but under no conceivable 
circumstances could you grow an elm from the same 
seed. The same law that regulates the growth of the 



364 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

seed finds an illustration in the life of man. Our 
readers know how important it is that the seed should 
be sown in a fitting soil; the health, the beauty, and 
the fruitfulness of the plant depend in a great measure 
on the care bestowed in the cultivation of it. So in 
the development of human beings, education is all- 
important; the body must have fitting nourishment, 
exercise, and clothing, or it will become dwarfed and 
diseased; and the mind must have fitting culture; the 
springs of thought and affection must be moved — love, 
heroism, manliness, and devotion called forth — or the 
soul will be dwarfed and diseased too. Now, what 
soil and climate are to the tree, education, in the widest 
sense of the word — physical, mental, moral, and re- 
ligious — is to man. If rightly applied, it helps him to 
be a better, a braver, and a nobler man than he would 
be without it ; but only because it brings out of him 
in fuller perfection the qualities latent in his nature. 

Christ, then, did not profess to bestow on man any 
new faculty, but appealed to sentiments which he 
recognized as forming a constituent part of human 
nature. Man was a moral being, made in the image 
of God, but a life of sensualism and sin was fast 
defacing that image. The mission of Christ was to 
cleanse the mind from moral evil, to quicken, soften, 
elevate, and transform it into its pristine purity. He 
saw what men were, and what they might be, and he 
yearned to set them free from the slavery of the 
passions, and the sway of selfishness, that they might 
rise through lives of holiness and love, to the glorious 
liberty of the sons of God. Hence he said, " Blessed 
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God;" " Be ye 



CONCLUSION. 365 

perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." " In 
reading the New Testament/' says Dr. Channing, " I 
everywhere learn that Christ lived, taught, died, and 
rose again, to exert a purifying and ennobling influ- 
ence on the human character ; to make us victorious 
over sin, over ourselves, over peril and pain; to join 
us to God by filial love, and, above all, by likeness of 
nature, by participation of his Spirit. This is plainly 
laid down in the New Testament as the supreme end 
of Christ."* But if Jesus had not believed that men 
were capable of better things than w T hat he saw them 
performing, how could he have spoken to the multitude 
in the way he did ? How could he have said, while 
sitting on the Mount of the Beatitudes, " Love your 
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them 
that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use 
you and persecute you ; that ye may be the children 
of your Father who is in Heaven ; for he maketh his 
sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain 
on the just and the unjust/' if he had not believed that 
the human beings gathered around him were capable of 
such magnanimity ? 

Nor was his trust in the reality of human goodness 
misplaced.- We may regret the slow progress of moral 
truth, but that the words and the example of Jesus 
exerted a marked influence for good on the world can- 
not be denied. " I can do all things, through Christ 
who strengthened me," says the self-devoted Paul : 
and so it was with others. The Spirit of Jesus kindled 
a new life in the hearts of his disciples, which trans- 
formed them into saints and heroes, and sent them 

* Discourse on the Great Purpose of Christianity. 

E 2 



366 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

forth to the world, to face toil and persecution in the 
cause of God and man. That there were " signs and 
wonders " displayed in connection with the first 
preaching of Christianity, is what most persons who 
have paid much attention to the subject will be dis- 
posed to admit, even though they should seek to 
explain them by referring them to the operation of 
laws as fixed as those which regulate the rising and 
the setting sun. St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, 
speaks of the gifts of " healing," " working miracles," 
and speaking with " tongues/' as if those to whom he 
was writing were perfectly familiar with such mani- 
festations ; and it is hardly possible to believe that he 
would have so written, had his converts not been able, 
through their own experience, to understand what he 
was writing about. But St. Paul accepted all these 
gifts as part of the divine manifestation in the new 
religion, ana he never points to them as arguments in 
favour of the truth ; on the contrary, he generally 
alludes to them in a half-distrustful tone, and is ever 
ready to show men the better way. Thus, whatever 
the miracles of the early Church may have been, it 
was the moral and spiritual influence of Christ's 
life and teachings, rather than " signs and wonders," 
that silently wrought the mightiest revolutions in 
the life of man which this world has ever witnessed. 
" Every one," says Mr. Martineau, u is- sensible of a 
change in the whole climate of thought and feeling 
the moment he crosses any part of the boundary line 
which divides Christian civilization from Heathenism."* 
And this change is the highest proof that can be 

* Studies of Christianitj. 



CONCLUSION. 367 

offered of the divine mission of Christ and Christianity. 
The moral doctrines of the Gospel may have been 
taught as abstract truths by philosophers before Christ 
taught them, but he wedded them to life, and brought 
them home to the hearts of the common people. 
Hence we cannot separate his religion from his life, 
and still look to him as the Way, the Truth, and the 
Life. 

We do not say that the early Christians rose to the 
level of Christ's life and teachings, so as to realize, in 
all their beauty and simplicity, his great doctrines of 
love to God and love to man. On the contrary, we 
know that in the first century, as in the nineteenth, 
mere questions of ceremony and vain speculations 
about doctrine often assumed an importance in the 
minds of the disciples sadly at variance with the spirit 
of Christ's teachings. So, too, in practice, the early 
Christians often sank as far below the example of 
Jesus as the heathen amongst whom they lived. 
Nevertheless there is, running through the whole his- 
tory of the early Church, a deep vein of heroism and 
unselfish devotion which rises to the surface from time 
to time, and gives birth to brave and beautiful deeds. 
The influence of the new religion can be traced long 
before the close of the first century, mitigating the 
horrors of slavery, and gradually elevating the life of 
man. Then, too, the noble example which the Chris- 
tians set of faithfulness to truth and duty, must many 
times have struck awe into the hearts of their perse- 
cutors. And in times of persecution the disciples 
stood by one another, till it became a byword among 
their enemies, "See how these Christians love one 



368 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

another." But their sympathies were not always con- 
fined to their own communion. In seasons of trial 
and adversity, when human nature might have been 
excused for breaking down in a task so arduous, the 
persecuted Christians continued faithful to their Lord's 
precept, and bravely returned good for evil. Thus 
when the wholesale slaughter at Alexandria, during 
the Decian persecution, " had the consequence which 
in such a climate it was likely to produce : the 
plague made its appearance with tremendous violence, 
and desolated the city so that, as Dionysius, the 
Christian bishop, writes, there were not so many- 
inhabitants left, of all ages, as heretofore could be 
numbered between forty and seventy. In this emer- 
gency, the persecuted Christians forgot all but their 
Lord's precept, and were unwearied in their attendance 
on the sick ; many perishing in the performance of 
this duty by taking the infection. ■ In this way/ says 
the bishop, with touching simplicity, ' the best of the 
brethren departed this life, some ministers and some 
deacons, the heathens having abandoned their friends 
and relations to the care of the very persons whom 
they had been accustomed to call ' Men-haters ! ' 

" A like noble self-devotion was shown at Carthage, 
when the pestilence which had desolated Alexandria 
made its appearance in that city, and, — I quote the 
words of a contemporary — 'All fled in horror from 
the contagion, abandoning their relations and friends, 
as if they thought that by avoiding the plague any 
one might also exclude death altogether. Meanwhile, 
the city was strewed with the bodies, or rather the car- 
casses of the dead, which seemed to call for pity from 



CONCLUSION. 3G9 

the passers-by, who might themselves so soon share 
the same fate; but no one cared for anything but 
miserable pelf; no one trembled at the consideration 
of what might so soon befall him in his turn ; no one 
did for another what he would have wished others to 
do for him. The bishop, hereupon, called together his 
flock, and setting before them the example and teach- 
ing of their Lord, called on them to act up to it. He 
said that, if they took care only of their own people, 
they did but what the commonest feeling would dic- 
tate ; the servant of Christ must do more : he must 
love his enemies, and pray for bis persecutors ; for 
God made his sun to rise and his rain to fall on all 
alike, and he who would be the child of God must 
imitate his Father/ The people responded to this 
appeal ; they formed themselves into classes, and 
those whose poverty prevented them from doing more 
gave their personal attendance, while those who had 
property aided yet further. No one quitted his post 
but with his life/'* 

" This self-devotion in times of distress/' says Mr. 
Martineau, u strangely contrasting with habits and 
temper apparently unsocial, has too steadily re- 
appeared in every earnest church, not to be accepted 
as a Christian characteristic. During the fatal 
famine and epidemic which desolated Antioch in the 
third century, the Pagan governor, when urged by 
the inhabitants to make authoritative arrangements 
for relieving the sufferings of a perishing populace, 
replied, that the 'gods hated the poor;' while the 

* The state of Man subsequent to Christianity. 



370 SCENES PROM THE LIFE OE ST. PAUL. 

Christians, prevailingly poor themselves, plunged into 
the centre of the danger, and carried into the re- 
cesses of fever and despair, the quiet presence of help 
and hope/' * 

These examples — and more might be quoted — better 
illustrate the new moral life which Christianity awa- 
kened in the minds of its early disciples, than any 
description of its effects which w T e could give. Let 
our readers picture in their own minds Jesus sitting 
on a mountain-top in Galilee; the blue sky bending 
over him, and a crowd of human beings gathered 
round him, to whom he is saying in a simple, un- 
affected way, " Love your enemies, bless them that 
curse, do good to them that hate you, and pray for 
them that despitefully use you and persecute you." 
Was there anything very wonderful in such a scene ? 
Might not a spectator have said, with a fair show of 
reason, " There is but little good in all this. These 
people will return to their homes ; worldly cares and 
worldly toils will soon efface an impression thus 
lightly made : a spoken word heard to-day and for- 
gotten to morrow ; how can that effect the life of 
man ? " But plausible as this might have seemed at 
the time, we now know how false it would have been. 
Those words committed to the unseen air were not 
destined to pass away so soon. Sinking deep into a 
few hearts, they had a glorious mission to fulfil. In 
Alexandria, Antioch, Carthage, Rome, three, four, five 
hundred years after they were uttered, they gave birth 
to deeds the mere mention of which will make the 

* Studies of Christianity. 



CONCLUSION. 371 

heart of humanity thrill for centuries. The blessed 
words of Jesus have come down the ages ; passed 
from land to land, and home to home ; have changed 
hate into love, and lulled stormy passions in many a 
troubled breast. They did so because they embodied 
great ideas, and ideas rule the world. Thrones rise 
and fall at their beck, and revolutions, the mightiest 
which this world has ever witnessed, have been 
kindled by them. The son of a Jewish carpenter, 
driven by persecution from his native town of Naza- 
reth, sat on a mountain- top in Galilee, and legislated 
for nations then unborn. Surely there is a solemn 
lesson in that fact : — 

' ' Tho' sown in tears and blood, 
No seed that's quick with love hath perish' d, 

Tho' dropt in barren bye-ways. God 
Some glorious flowers of life hath cherish' d." 

That the life and teachings of Jesus exerted a 
mighty influence for good upon the world, is a fact 
which few readers of history will attempt to deny ; 
but that good had to fight a stem battle with evil 
before it got recognized. 

In the foregoing pages we have tried to give our 
readers some idea of the life and labours of one who 
took a noble part in that battle ; and from that life a 
great lesson may be learned. The age in which St. 
Paul lived was in many respects very different from our 
own. We have our own controversies to settle, and our 
own reforms to battle for; but the spirit in which he^ 
lived and did his work is needed now as much as it was 
then, for the reign of truth and righteousness has not 
yet been established on the earth. Let a man go 



372 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

forth in the spirit of the Apostle, filled with a great 
hatred of wrong, and a noble love of the right, and 
he will yet find obstacles in abundance besetting his 
path. Neither is there any reason why Christianity 
should be less a power to cope with evil, with tyranny 
and wrong now than it was in former times, unless it 
be that we have ceased to believe in it as a great faith 
in the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood ol 
Man, and a divine life nobly spent in the service oi 
our Father and our Brother, and substituted for it a 
long creed, hard to be believed, and far removed from 
human wants-. A devout study of the life of St. Paul 
would do much to dispel this delusion, and teach us 
to feel that Christianity means being and doing good, 
loving God and man, and showing forth our love by 
noble and beneficent deeds done, not to gain the 
applause of men, but in the spirit of him whose life 
was a holy sacrifice offered up to truth and duty; 
would teach us to feel, in the Apostle's own words, 
that " the end of the commandment is charity, out 
of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and of faith 
unfeigned." 



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